Firepaw of SkyClan
by Mistywater55
Summary: Skyclan never left the forest, the twolegplace was built on the edge of their territory. so what happens when a certain ginger kitten takes interest in the forest? Skyclan adopts Rusty. AU
1. Chapter 1

Okay, I'm very happy about this story idea that I have come up with. I have finally gotten the chance to read Firestar's Quest and while I read it I couldn't help but fall for SkyClan. They were a awesome group of cats. I thought to myself, what if SkyClan's territory hadn't been destroyed? What if the twolegplace was on the edge of their territory? Almost as if it was merely pushed back far enough that the fifth clan could live there. That thought brought on the idea for this story. Part of this story idea isn't very original it's the whole what if Rusty had joined a different clan thing, but I don't think anyone has done a story this way before using SkyClan, at least I haven't found one. Don't worry any cats that where apart of the modern SkyClan whether they had Skyclan blood or not will appear in this story. Also any cat that had the Skyclan traits but didn't join will be added also. For all the people out there who are worried about the cats of ThunderClan who have Skyclan blood such as Tigerclaw and Spottedleaf I have found a solution that I like. For those of you who don't know, Birdflight, a ancient Skyclan cat in Firestar's Quest , was left behind in ThunderClan to take care of her and Cloudstar's(The Skyclan leader at the time.) kits since they were too small to travel. Those kits Gorseclaw and Spottedpelt are the ancestors of Spottedleaf and Tigerclaw.

Since Skyclan isn't leaving the forest in my story I have decided to say that Birdflight as a kit was found near the ThunderClan border by a ThunderClan queen who had recently lost her kits. This queen adopted her and raised her in ThunderClan. She grew up a happy ThunderClan cat and fell in love with Cloudstar they kept their relationship a secret and later Birdflight gives birth to Spottedkit and Gorsekit.

Also since SkyClan hasn't left the forest in this story there isn't any reason for Skywatcher's name to be Skywatcher so I changed it to Moonwatcher.

Disclaimer: I don't own warriors or any of the original characters except the ones I thought up

SKYCLAN

Leader: Goldenstar- golden tabby she-cat with amber eyes

Apprentice, Firepaw

Deputy: Ashstorm- gray tom with dark gray tabby stripes blue eyes

Apprentice, Lightningpaw

Medicine cat: Fallowpelt- brown tabby she-cat with green eyes

Warriors: Smokecloud- dark gray tom with blue eyes

Apprentice, Dovepaw

Finchflight:- golden tabby tom with green eyes

Apprentice, Longpaw

Owltalon- light brown tabby tom with black paws, green eyes

Apprentice, Runningpaw

Hawkwing- brown tabby tom with white chest, golden eyes

Grayfeather- gray tabby she-cat with a long feathery tail amber eyes

Silverwind- silver tabby tom with white chest and paws blue eyes

Mapletail- white she-cat with tortoiseshell tail green eyes

Sootpelt- black and white tom with amber eyes

Blackflower- black she-cat with green eyes

Stonetooth - gray tom with amber eyes

Spiderfang- black tom with dark gray muzzle blue eyes

Icefeather- light silver she-cat with ice blue eyes

Apprentices: Dovepaw- white she-cat with light blue eyes

Lightningpaw- pale ginger tom with green eyes

Runningpaw- silver she-cat with blue eyes

Longpaw- light brown tom with amber eyes

Firepaw- ginger tom with green eyes

Queens: Redflower- dark ginger she-cat with green eyes( Sharpkit: ginger tom, Sunkit: golden tabby she-kit with white muzzle, chest and legs)

Thrushfur- brown and cream tabby she-cat, amber eyes. (Leafkit: brown and cream tabby she-kit)

Snowfall - white she-cat with blue-gray eyes. (Cloverkit: light brown she-kit with white chest and legs, Spottedkit: white she-kit with brown spots)

Squirrelfur- gray she-cat with bushy tail, blue eyes. (Rainkit: light gray tom with darker flecks, Stormkit: dark gray tom)

Elders: Moonwatcher - old dark gray tom with pale blue eyes

Ivyclaw- old mottled gray she-cat with green eyes

Blackbird- very old large black tom with a silver muzzle and amber eyes oldest cat in Skyclan

Toadleg- old dark brown tom with golden eyes

Chapter 1

Rusty woke up from a pleasant dream of chasing mice throughout the forest. He gave himself a good stretch before he stepped out of his bed and padded over to his food dishes. He sniffed at the hard pellets before gobbling them up hungrily. He took a few gulps water and wiped his paw across his face. The dream of the forest still fresh in his mind, he pushed his way through the cat door to the garden. He leaped gracefully onto his fence and stared into the forest. He was beginning to jump down to take a closer look when he heard his name being called. His friend Smudge climbed up onto the fence beside Rusty.

"Hi Rusty, what are you doing?" meowed Smudge. "You're not going into the forest are you?"

"Hey Smudge, yes I am going into the forest for a look around." Rusty meowed. He glanced a little over at the forest.

"Well good luck, you won't see me going in there." Smudge meowed. "I heard there are dangerous cats out there." Rusty looked at Smudge slightly in disbelief.

"I'm sure it was just a story to keep kits from wandering out into the forest." Rusty scoffed.

"Well just be careful okay?" meowed Smudge. Rusty nodded his head and watched his friend jump back into his own yard. Rusty stared up at the sky for a moment before leaping off the fence and heading straight into the forest. The further Rusty walked into the forest the more uneven and rocky the ground became, and Rusty's pads started to become a little sore but he trudged forward determined to explore as much as he could.

Rusty took in the various sights and smells that surrounded him. Suddenly, he caught a prey scent in the wind and quickly began to pinpoint the location. He followed the scent and saw a sparrow pecking quietly at small seed. Rusty crouched down preparing to spring onto the sparrow when he heard a faint snap of a twig. The sparrow quickly took flight and flew far away. Rusty hissed in frustration looking for the twig that had startled the sparrow. He then realized that there weren't any twigs near him.

Suddenly a brown blur attacked Rusty from the side. The brown blur turned out to be a kitten. The kitten looked like it was a little older than Rusty with broad shoulders and powerful looking haunches. Rusty wiggled himself free from the kitten's grasp and turned and sank his teeth into the older kitten's foreleg. The kitten took a swipe at Rusty's head. Rusty dodged and tried to slash the kitten's face, but the kitten was faster and moved to the side of Rusty's attack and head butted Rusty into the side. Rusty tumbled a few tail lengths away. Rusty lay still on his stomach for a moment, but he heard the kitten coming for him. As the kitten sprang at him Rusty back-kicked the kitten with all his energy in the chest; the kitten tumbled away from Rusty and lay still. Rusty got to his paws slowly and stayed in a crouched position preparing for another attack. The kitten slowly got to his paws and looked toward Rusty. The kitten blinked slowly and moved toward Rusty with none of the aggression he had seen earlier.

"You are a kittypet aren't you?" asked the kitten looking at Rusty with a hint of confusion.

"A kittypet?" asked Rusty watching the kitten warily.

"A cat that lives with twolegs who doesn't hunt for themselves; I guess you are one since you didn't know what a kittypet was" meowed the kitten

"Whatever, why did you attack me and who are you?" hissed Rusty. He was suspicious of the other kitten.

"My name is Longpaw and the reason I attacked you was because you are in my Clan's territory." answered Longpaw. Rusty looked at Longpaw with confusion in his eyes.

'Clan? Does he mean those wild cats that Smudge told me about?' thought Rusty.

"What do you mean by Clan?" asked Rusty curiously. He studied the other kitten carefully and noticed that while the kitten was about the same age as him he was more muscular than him and he also noticed that the kittens claws were long and sharp.

"The Clans are groups of cats who live by a warrior code. There are five Clans that live in the forest. I am an apprentice of SkyClan. Now that I have told you a little about myself why don't you tell me who you are and why you're here. " Longpaw replied watching Rusty curiously.

"My name is Rusty I just came out here to see the forest. It has always fascinated me." Rusty told him. Longpaw watched him a moment before nodding his head in understanding.

"Curiosity got the better of you didn't it?" asked Longpaw with amusement in his voice as he looked at Rusty. Rusty's ears twitched with embarrassment.

"Tell me more about the Clans." Rusty meowed eagerly, wanting to hear more about the wild cats of the forest. Suddenly Longpaw stiffened.

"You need to leave right now quickly." Rusty gave Longpaw a look of confusion. 'What is wrong with him? weren't we getting along just a moment ago?" thought Rusty. Then the scent of other cats filled the forest area. Rusty started to run when a golden cat emerged from the shadows of the trees. Rusty noticed the cat's powerful looking haunches. Another larger golden cat appeared behind the other. Longpaw had lowered himself to the ground. Rusty followed his example and lowered himself onto his belly. The first golden tabby looked down at the two lowered to the ground.

"Longpaw who is this cat?" meowed first golden tabby. Longpaw looked up and let his gaze travel from the first tabby to the second one.

"He's just a kittypet, Goldenstar" answered Longpaw. Goldenstar looked more closely at Rusty. The second tabby looked at Longpaw crossly.

"Longpaw you shouldn't be so close to the Twolegplace "meowed the other golden tabby. Longpaw looked shamefully at his paws.

"I'm sorry Finchflight, I wanted to see this part of the forest. I scented an intruder and went to run them out of our territory. I didn't mean to stray so close to the Twolegplace." Longpaw meowed. Rusty looked curiously at Longpaw. 'These cats smell like him they must be apart of his Clan.'

"Kittypet, what is your name?" asked Goldenstar. Rusty looked up at Goldenstar and watched her carefully.

"My name is Rusty" He meowed softly. Finchflight turned his gaze over to the flame furred kitten.

"You fight well for a kittypet Rusty and you seem to enjoy the forest. Would you like to see more of it? "meowed Goldenstar. Rusty looked at her confused. Goldenstar purred in amusement after noticing Rusty's confusion.

"Forgive me for not introducing myself, I am Goldenstar the leader of SkyClan and this is one of my warriors, Finchflight." Goldenstar flicked her tail at the other golden tabby beside her. "Though you have trespassed in our territory I can see great potential for you as a warrior for Skyclan, would you be willing to give up your soft life as a kittypet and be a warrior of SkyClan?" Rusty stared at her in surprise. Finchflight turned to Goldenstar with a look of shock on his face.

"But, Goldenstar he is a kittypet. He is use to a soft life, with food given to him every day by twolegs." murmured Finchflight. Goldenstar gave Finchflight a hard stare.

"He would have caught that sparrow if it hadn't been scared away by Longpaw." She glanced at Longpaw still crouched on the ground. "He also fought well against your apprentice, do you not agree?" Finchflight sighed

"Yes Goldenstar I agree with you." Goldenstar purred at Finchflight before turning her gaze back to Rusty and Longpaw.

"You may both rise" Goldenstar meowed. Rusty slowly stood up. Longpaw rose to his paws.

"Well Rusty, what will you decide to do? If you join our Clan you must be willing to follow our code. You must feed and protect your Clan with your life. Living in the forest is tough but if you are willing to do it you can truly call yourself a cat. You will also remain a tom and may one day have a mate and kits."

"What do you mean remain a tom?" asked Rusty.

"If you stay with your twolegs there is every chance you will visit the cutter and he will take away what makes you a tom, if the cutter does than you won't be able to mate." answered Goldenstar. Rusty's eyes widened considerably.

"So have you decided?" asked Goldenstar. Rusty thought for a moment.

"May I have some time to think." asked Rusty. Goldenstar gave him a nod

"Yes, this is a big decision, Finchflight will come for you tomorrow at sunhigh you may tell him your decision." Goldenstar led Longpaw and Finchflight deeper into the forest.

(Well what do you think so far? Longpaw will obviously be Rusty's friend in this story.

What do you think of Finchflight and Goldenstar?

I know that the whole offer seem to come quickly but I sort of did that on purpose. Since this story is about Rusty joining SkyClan it makes more since to make it a bit different than how he met ThunderClan)

(I remade this chapter because of SkyClan's territory in the forest. At first the territory started off as being more like an extension of ThunderClan territory but then I thought about how different every clan's territory is and how it is suited for the cats that live there. So I started paying more attention to Sky Clan warriors and how their built and they sort of reminded me of the tribe cats a little bit, so I have made a territory for them that is in the forest but the territory itself is a little like the mountains. I also changed the prey because I forgot that SkyClan hunts mainly birds)


	2. Chapter 2

(Just like the last Chapter this one was redone mostly because of the territory.)

Chapter 2

Rusty woke up in his basket and stepped out of it. He stretched out his body then padded toward the cat flap in the kitchen. He spotted Smudge in his yard and darted across the lawn to greet him.

"Why did you sleep in so late?" asked Smudge.

"I went into the forest and met up with some wild cats, they want me join their Clan." answered Rusty. Smudge looked at Rusty with wide eyes.

"Really? You have seen them? What happened?" asked Smudge who looked curious and fearful at the same time. Rusty told Smudge about his adventures in the forest and about the offer he had been given by the Clan.

"Are you really going to go?" asked Smudge quite sadly. Rusty thought for a moment before answering his friend.

"yes I'm going to go. I will learn what it means to be a real cat and to protect and serve the Clan." answered Rusty. Smudge looked down sadly with his tail drooped on the ground.

"I'll miss you Rusty". Rusty looked at his friend sadly, but knew he was going to leave.

"I'll miss you too Smudge" meowed Rusty.

Rusty was waiting in the spot where he had met the other Clan cats. A soft breeze ruffled his ginger fur. His fur shimmered in the sunlight like the blaze of a fire. The familiar scent of the Clan cats reached his nose though it was stale. Suddenly a fresher scent caught his nose and he recognized it as the scent of Finchflight. Rusty's ears rotated back and forth trying to pick up the faintest sound of pawsteps, but before he could figure out where the scent was coming from a familiar golden tabby emerged from behind a bramble bush.

"Hello Rusty have you made your decision?" asked Finchflight. Rusty gave him a curt nod.

"Yes, I've decided to join your Clan."

"Very well lets go, Goldenstar is expecting us." But before Rusty had even taken a step forward, Finchflight had grabbed his collar between his teeth and yanked it off with a snap. Finchflight placed it before Rusty who quickly buried it. Finchflight turned around and raced into the forest with Rusty pelting after him. Finchlight led him through the trees, leaping over small boulders with a swift pace. Rusty did his best to keep up with him. He weaved around a well placed boulder which Finchflight had cleared with one leap. Rusty had been in awe by the warriors ability to leap so high but remembered how powerful the tom's hind legs were and figured the jump was nothing to the golden warrior.

They continued through the trees till they reached a hill at the very top a tree was perched. The hill was covered with mossy rocks some of which were sharp, which didn't appear to slow down Finchflight who proceeded to climb with ease. Rusty struggled a little up the hill but still made it to the top without any accidents, however he was now very tired and his paws were sore. Finchflight guided him over to a small cave created by three smooth rocks that seemed to lead underneath the tree. The cave was just big enough for a cat to get into. Finchflight beckoned Rusty forward with his tail and move into the cave. Rusty followed behind him with caution as he approached the cave. The golden warriors tail had just vanished into the cave as Rusty entered. His nose was assaulted with the fresh scents of various different cats. He noticed that the cave wasn't actually a cave but a tunnel as he saw light from the other side. He emerged into the camp and looked around in awe at the many cats lying around and play fighting.

"Welcome to SkyClan Rusty" meowed Finchflight as he watched Rusty's expression with amusement. As Finchflight led Rusty further into camp, cats began to take notice of them and began to mutter to one another about who he was and where he came from. Goldenstar spotted them from her perch on a low branch on a tree on the far side of the clearing and gave Finchflight a nod before calling out to the Clan.

_"_Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join underneath the High Branch for a Clan meeting" she called. Cats began to gather around her some gave Rusty curious looks.

"Cats of SkyClan we have been through our harshest leaf-bare, and while we haven't had too many losses I feel there is a need for more warriors." she paused to let her words sink in before continuing. "With that said I have brought this outsider here to join our camp." Cats immediately resumed their earlier muttering and started stealing glances at Rusty.

"Whose Clan is he from?"

"Is he a rogue or loner?"

"Goldenstar can't possibly expect him to be a warrior"

"He smells like a kittypet."

Goldenstar flicked her tail in impatience.

"ENOUGH" she growled. "Regardless of who he is or where he came from, he will train to be a warrior and that is final." With that Goldenstar jumped down from High Branch and gave each of her warriors a hard stare. Rusty eyes had widened considerably 'I best not get her angry' he thought. He saw most of the warriors had ceased their whispering and decide to listen to their leader looking at her uneasily.

"Rusty come here" she called. Rusty looked over at her nervously.

"It's okay go on" encouraged Finchflight who sat right beside him. Rusty got to his feet quickly and came to stand in front of Goldenstar.

"By naming apprentices, we show that SkyClan will survive and remain strong. "called Goldenstar " From this moment on, until he has earned his warrior name, this apprentice will be known as Firepaw. I have decide that I will be your mentor and train you in the ways of our Clan" She bent down and touched noses with Firepaw whose eyes had brightened.

"Firepaw, Firepaw, Firepaw" the Clan called out. Gradually the cheering died down and cats went back to what they were doing before the newcomer came.

"Firepaw tomorrow you will come with me on a patrol so I can show you our territory. I expect you to be waiting by the entrance before dawn. Is that clear?" Firepaw gave her a nod. Satisfied Goldenstar moved to speak with Finchflight. When she had gone Firepaw looked around for Longpaw but couldn't see his tabby pelt anywhere.

"Hello Firepaw" came a voice from beside him. He turned and saw a pretty silver tabby beside him.

"Hello" he answered shyly. The silver tabby purred softly and nudged him gently in the shoulder.

"My name is Runningpaw, come with me I'll show you where the other apprentices stay." she mewled softly. Firepaw nodded to her and followed her to a large tree with large roots. A small opening came from underneath the trunk.

"This is the apprentice den I know it looks a little small but it opens up nicely inside." Runningpaw meowed. Firepaw stared in awe at the tree and gave her a nod. She twitched her whiskers in amusement.

"Follow me." She mew before moving to the entrance of the den.

Runningpaw led Firepaw underneath the tree where the inside was wider and there were two other apprentices curled up in their nest. A pale ginger tom with green eyes and beside him sat a pretty white she-cat with blue eyes. They looked up when Runningpaw and Firepaw came in. The ginger tom gave Firepaw a look of disgust.

"Well if it isn't the kittypet, thought you might have gone home to your twoleg nest." sneered the tom. Before Firepaw could retort back the white she-cat rose to her paws and turned her head to shoot the tom a fierce look.

"Lightningpaw that's no way to speak to Firepaw, he's our Clan mate now we should be welcoming him." she hissed before turning her gaze to Firepaw, her eyes softening.

"Hello Firepaw my name is Dovepaw and that grumpy lump of fur is Lightningpaw" she said with a flick of her tail.

"Hello Dovepaw its nice to meet you" Firepaw meowed. Dovepaw purred softly before moving toward the entrance to the den .

"Would you like me to show you around camp?" she asked sweetly. Firepaw nodded and followed Dovepaw back into the clearing.

"Come with me" she meowed softly before leading Firepaw to a small clearing where two rocks formed a small cave. A brown tabby she-cat sat organizing herbs on the ground. The tabby looked up and gave of them each a friendly nodded before going back to her work.

"This is the medicine cat's clearing, those two rocks form the medicine cat den." Dovepaw paused to let Firepaw take in what she was telling him. "and that's Fallowpelt our medicine cat. If you ever get sick or have an injury go to her and she'll make sure your taken care of."

"Don't forget that she also helps interpret signs from StarClan" a voice meow behind them. They spun around to see Longpaw standing behind them. Firepaw was happy to see his familiar face.

"Hi Longpaw where were you?" asked Firepaw.

"Oh I was hunting, Finchflight asked Smokecloud to show me how to properly catch mice." Longpaw meowed. "That reminds me, Dovepaw, Smokecloud wants you to go with him, Hawkwing and Grayfeather on the sunhigh patrol they are waiting for you at the entrance. Dovepaw nodded and looked sadly at Firepaw.

"Sorry I can't finish showing you around. Longpaw will you show him the rest of camp?" she asked

"Of course I will"

"Okay, well see you later Firepaw" she purred before dashing off to meet her mentor. Firepaw and Longpaw watched her go before turning to look at each other.

"Firepaw huh? Nice name it does suit you though since you pelt looks as if its made of fire." Longpaw observed "How have things been so far?"

"Well I met the other apprentices. Dovepaw and Runningpaw were nice but, Lightningpaw wasn't exactly friendly or welcoming" shrugged Firepaw.

"Of course he wasn't, your competition in his eyes." Longpaw muttered to himself.

"W-What?" asked Firepaw in confusion.

"Nothing, don't worry about him he's always grumpy and he is weary since you're an outsider. Come on I promised Dovepaw I'd show you around" meowed Longpaw before walking off. Firepaw watched him curiously before following him. As they moved a way Fallowpelt looked up from her herbs. Her eyes flickering in amusement.

(I'm stopping here for now. The next chap should be interesting because I am going to have to make up some of the territory. . . . . Maybe all of the territory and the camp. Meet more of the Clan. So what do you think?)


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Longpaw led Firepaw to some bushes with white flowers growing off them. A few cats older than Longpaw lay near the bushes sharing fresh kill. A large silver tabby tom with white chest and paws, lay beside a white she-cat with a tortoiseshell tail. The two seemed to be discussing the best place for hunting, now that leaf-fall was fast approaching. Near them lay a black tom with a dark gray muzzle, who was sharing a quail with light silver she cat with bright ice blue eyes. Longpaw pointed toward them with his tail.

"Those two older cats are Silverwind and Mapletail they a great hunters in the clan and know the best spots to catch prey." meowed Longpaw. "Those younger warriors are Spiderfang and Icefeather they just became warriors last moon and Spiderfang likes to make sure that we apprentices don't forget it."

"Those bushes make up the warrior's den. You'll sleep there when you become a warrior." Longpaw meowed with a glance to Firepaw. Firepaw gave him a nod and they continued on their way. They came to a tree stump with a hollow opening and two bushes growing on either side of it. Longpaw led Firepaw directly to the opening of the tree stump.

"This is the elder's den. This is where our elder's sleep. They are former warrior's who have retired and are now looked after by the Clan" Longpaw explained.

"Yeah and along with that retirement comes rest and relaxation which we would be doing if you weren't making so much racket" growled a voice from within the den.

"Shut up Toadleg, Longpaw is obviously showing around our newest Clanmate." meowed a harsh female voice.

"Well he could be quieter, can't a cat get any sleep around here?" growled Toadleg's voice

"Not with you snoring we can't" hissed the feminine voice again

"That's enough you two, your making the young ones nervous" rasped an almost ancient sounding voice. Firepaw nervously glanced at Longpaw who twitched his whiskers in amusement, though he couldn't tell if it was because of him or the elder's antics. The ancient voice spoke up again.

"Come in young ones." Longpaw looked over at Firepaw and gave him a nod before moving into the den. Firepaw quickly followed him in and began to take the sight of the den. It was comfortable sized den for the four elders who stayed in there. Four elderly cats rested peacefully within their nests of moss and feathers. Longpaw made quick introductions.

"Firepaw, meet our elder's: Moonwatcher, Toadleg, Ivyclaw, and the oldest cat in SkyClan Blackbird." Firepaw examined each elder carefully.

Moonwatcher was a dark gray tom with pale blue eyes that seemed to hold a bit of mischief in them. Toadleg, a dark brown tom with golden eyes, glared at Firepaw and Longpaw from his nest and muttered under his breath something about noisy apprentices and elders older than the trees that made up the forest. The only she-cat elder Ivyclaw, a mottled gray she-cat with green eyes, glared heatedly at Toadleg and looked ready to claw out his fur.

"I probably shouldn't get her angry. I'd hate to be under that stare.' thought Firepaw

Firepaw finally let his eyes rest on Blackbird, who drew in Firepaw's attention with his appearance alone. The old tom looked as though he had seen many battles in his time. Blackbird was a large tom with a coat that was black as night, but was also dull and ragged from not having been groomed for so long. Both his ears were littered with scars and he had a nick in his right ear. His muzzle looked as though it had turned silver with age, but what had drew in Firepaw the most were his eyes that appeared to be amber pools of knowledge and wisdom. Firepaw had no doubt in his mind that this cat had probably seen more than most cats would, and felt honored to be in the presence of such a cat.

Blackbird watched Firepaw curiously before beckoning him over with his tail. Firepaw was surprised by the action, but moved closer to Blackbird. As he drew closer, he breathed in the elder's scent. Blackbird's scent was calming to Firepaw who hadn't realized that he had tensed up. Blackbird stared deep into his eyes before giving him a nod of approval.

"I think I can see why Goldenstar excepted you into our Clan, I can tell that you have great potential." Blackbird rasped. Firepaw sat up a bit straighter under Blackbird's praise. Moonwatcher nodded in agreement, while Toadleg merely snorted. Ivyclaw cuffed Toadleg behind the ear and growled low under her breath before softening her eyes on Firepaw. She pushed a chaffinch forward and beckon him over with her tail.

"Come over here young one and have a bite of this chaffinch" she purred gently. Firepaw came over to her and gave her a polite 'thank you' before pulling off the feathers and having a small bite. It was like nothing he had ever tasted before and he liked it a lot more than the pellets his twolegs use to feed him. Ivyclaw seemed to purr louder when she saw how much Firepaw enjoyed the taste of the chaffinch. Toadleg stared at him from his nest before giving a loud snort.

"You better not start complaining that your hungry later Ivyclaw." Toadleg growled. Ivyclaw shot him a look laced with venom.

"It's a wonder any of us get any food with you stuffing your face when ever you can." she hissed, her green eyes flashing. Firepaw was worried that the two elders who leap from their nests and rip each other to bits, but Moonwatcher spoke up and quickly directed their attention away from each other.

"Hey you two don't forget that Thrushfur's and Redflower's kits are coming to visit us today. Do you really want them to see you two fighting?" he spoke calmingly. Ivyclaw let her fur lie down and sheathed her claws. Toadleg huffed before turning his back to everyone and falling asleep in his nest. Longpaw who had been looking a Firepaw in shock, decided it was time to see the rest of the camp. The two bid the elders goodbye before moving back toward the clearing. They headed toward a small rocky cave with a bush with white flowers hiding most of the entrance.

Suddenly three little bundles of fur darted from the den. Two of the furry bundles maneuvered around Firepaw and Longpaw, however the third ran straight into Firepaw and tumbled backwards from the impact. Firepaw moved quickly to stand over the little kit to check to make sure she was alright. She was a small golden and white tabby with light blue eyes. Firepaw gently nosed the kit back onto her paws.

"Hello there are you okay?" asked Firepaw gently. The little kit looked up at him and gave him a shy nod. "That's good what is your name?"

"My name is Sunkit, I'm sorry I ran into you." she mewled softly.

"It's alright I know you didn't mean any harm, I'm Firepaw by the way"

Sunkit opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by a loud mew.

"Come on Sunkit, I want to hear Moonwatcher's story about the battle SkyClan fought with RiverClan over the Sandy shore. " meowed a loud voice. Firepaw looked over his shoulder and saw two other kit's who looked to be the same age as Sunkit. One was a ginger tom and the other was a brown and cream tabby she-cat.

"Are they your siblings?" Firepaw asked curiously.

"Well Sharpkit is my brother, but Leafkit is just a friend. I should go Sharpkit will just get unbearable if we don't go see the elders soon." she meowed quickly.

"Well I'll let you go then, I'll see you around then?" he asked. Sunkit gave him warm look before nodding and racing over to her brother and Leafkit. Firepaw watched her go before turning his attention to Longpaw who seemed to be reliving his earlier shock.

"Are you okay?" Firepaw asked curiously. Longpaw shook himself a little before answering.

"I'm fine, its just that Sunkit is a very shy kit and rarely speaks to anyone except for her mother, her brother and Leafkit." Firepaw looked surprised at this.

"No one else just them?" Longpaw gave him a nod.

"Yeah, I mean Fallowpelt may be able her to get Sunkit to speak to her every now and then, but other than her and the three I mentioned earlier she doesn't really talk to anyone else."

"Maybe I remind her of Sharpkit."

"Maybe, but I doubt it." Longpaw looked thoughtful for a moment before shrugging it all off. "Anyway this is the nursery. Its where she-cats who are nursing kits or are pregnant with kits sleep." Longpaw moved toward the entrance and beckoned Firepaw to follow him. Their were four she-cats resting with in the den. One of the she-cats a white she-cat with blue-gray eyes had two tiny kits snuggled close into her belly, while the only pregnant female a gray tabby she-cat with a thick bushy tail lay curled up taking a nap. A dark ginger she-cat watch them enter curiously before continuing her conversation with the brown and cream tabby who lay right next to her.

"Hello Redflower, Thrushfur I'm sure your aware of our newest apprentice? " meowed Longpaw giving each a nod. Thrushfur gave a kind gentle look at Firepaw.

"Hello Firepaw and welcome to the Clan" she meowed kindly. Redflower simply shrugged.

"As long as he does his share I could care less" she mewled. Thrushfur looked surprised at her friends nonchalance at having Firepaw join the Clan.

"By the way Redflower are you aware that Sunkit literally ran into Firepaw and actually spoke to him?" meowed Longpaw with an air of indifference. This had both Redflower and Thrushfur shocked. Redflower narrowed her eyes at Firepaw.

"Did she really speak you?" meowed Redflower. Firepaw though nervous never let it show and met Redflower's steady gaze.

"Yes she did. Why?" Redflower looked closely at him and for a moment her eyes seemed to soften, but just as quickly hardened back up.

"I see, maybe she will get better with time then." Redflower muttered to herself. Firepaw looked confused and opened his mouth ask what she had meant, but was silenced by Longpaw's tail.

"Now is not the time." Longpaw murmured in his ear. Firepaw nodded and moved to over to the other queens. The gray tabby looked up from her nest and gave a welcome mewl.

"Hello I'm Squirrelfur and this is Snowfall" she meowed pointed her long bushy tail at the white queen in the nest near hers. Snowfall purred softly at Firepaw when she noticed how curiously he was watching the squirming bundles nestled against her belly.

"Would you like a closer look?" she asked softly.

"I would if you don't mind" answered Firepaw.

"Of course I don't" she purred as she moved her tail giving Firepaw a better view of her kits. One of the kits was brown with white legs and chest. The other was white with brown spots that covered her fur.

"They're beautiful." Firepaw purred as he looked at the two little she-cats.

"Thank you, their names are Cloverkit and Spottedkit." meowed Snowfall.

"Their so tiny" murmured Longpaw. Squirrelfur gave him an amused stare.

"Well of course their small, Snowfall gave birth to them two days ago" She mewled.

After spending sometime with the queens, Longpaw and Firepaw left the nursery and made their way to a tree where small boulders sat on either side of an opening in the roots. As they approached Longpaw continued to explain the warriors and apprentices duty in the Clan.

"This is Goldenstar's den, the leader den." meowed Longpaw. Just as Longpaw finished speaking a gray tom with dark gray tabby stripes emerged from the den. The tom moved to stand in front of the two apprentices.

"I hope you two aren't here to bother Goldenstar." he mewled sternly. Longpaw fur fluffed out in annoyance.

"No, I was just showing Firepaw the leader's den. We weren't going to go in."meowed Longpaw. The gray tom focused his gaze on Firepaw.

"Ah yes greetings Firepaw, I'm Ashstorm the clan's deputy." Firepaw saw a flicker of curiosity in Ashstorm's sharp blue eyes.

"Greetings, are you deciding patrols?" Ashstorm's whiskers twitched in amusement.

"Yes I was, and I understand that Goldenstar is taking you out to see our territory." Firepaw nodded.

"Yes it looks very big." Ashstorm shrugged a little.

"It's big enough and there is plenty of prey." Ashstorm watched as a patrol entered the camp. "And it seems the hunting patrol has returned." Firepaw watched as the four cats placed their catches in the fresh-kill pile before picking out something for themselves. Firepaw heard a low rumble come from hi stomach and only just realized he was hungry. It was getting close to dusk and Firepaw had only had a bite of Ivyclaw's chaffinch. Ashstorm chuckled before sending both apprentices to the fresh-kill pile. One of the warriors a gray tom with amber eyes looked suspiciously at Firepaw.

"Who are you and why are you in our camp?" growled the tom.

(I'm just going to leave it there they should explore the forest in the next chapter.)


	4. Chapter 4

(Finally figured out what I wanted for their territory. There are also a few references from Battles of the Clans since I finally got to read that book.)

Chapter 4

The gray tom glared at Firepaw and looked ready to attack the ginger tom. Longpaw stepped forward causing the gray tom to focus his attention to the brown tabby apprentice.

"Relax Stonetooth, this is Firepaw our newest apprentice. Goldenstar made him her apprentice at Sunhigh." Longpaw meowed giving Stonetooth a sharp look. A black she-cat stepped forward giving Firepaw a surprised look, while a white tom with black patches gave Firepaw a curious sniff. A light brown tabby tom, who had been slightly confused, quickly realized who the ginger tabby was.

"Oh I see, you're the cat that Goldenstar told me about" spoke a light brown tabby tom. Firepaw gave him a nod.

"I'm Owltalon its nice to meet you. This is Blackflower and Sootpelt." meowed the light brown tabby, pointing his tail at the black she-cat and the black and white tom.

"Its nice to meet you all" meowed Firepaw. Both cats gave Firepaw a nod and a greeting. Firepaw gave a wary glance at Stonetooth, who continued to glare at him. Firepaw thought for a moment that he had seen a flicker of fear in Stonetooth's eyes as the gray tom stared at him, however before he could think about it any further, Longpaw had begun to nudge Firepaw toward the fresh-kill pile. Longpaw quickly pulled out a robin and waited patiently for Firepaw to take a share of prey. After shaking away any lingering thoughts, Firepaw sniffed around the fresh-kill pile before pulling out a sparrow. He followed Longpaw over to the apprentice den, where Dovepaw and Runningpaw were sharing prey just outside the den. They both looked up from their meals at the two approaching apprentices. Runningpaw and Dovepaw made room for the two apprentices. Dovepaw purred softly before beckoning Firepaw over to lay beside her. Firepaw blinked gratefully at her and settled into the spot before he began to peel the feathers off his sparrow. He took a small bite of the sparrow purring softly at the taste of it.

"How do you like SkyClan so far Firepaw?" asked Dovepaw.

"Its great, I was surprised by how many cats live here." Firepaw answered after swallowing another bite of his sparrow. Firepaw looked around for a moment before noticing that Lightningpaw wasn't around.

"Where's Lightningpaw?" asked Firepaw.

"Oh Ashstorm called him to go on an evening patrol." meowed Runningpaw who had finished her meal and was currently grooming her soft silvery pelt. Firepaw looked around again realizing that Ashstorm wasn't in the clearing anymore.

"I see, How was your patrol Dovepaw?" asked Firepaw curiously. Dovepaw's eyes flickered at him with amusement.

"It was uneventful really, we just reinforced our scent marks along our borders" she sighed with a shrug. Longpaw licked his lips after finishing the last of his robin. He began to gather up the feathers. Firepaw watched him curiously.

"What are you doing Longpaw?" he asked.

"I'm moving the feathers, over to a pile near Fallowpelt's clearing where we store them to be used for bedding." Longpaw meowed before picking up a mouthful of feathers. Firepaw nodded at him and finished his final bite of sparrow before he also picked up the feathers following Longpaw to the clearing. As they approached Firepaw noticed a small scoop of earth in the ground with many different colors of feathers in it. Longpaw put half of his feather's in the hole. Firepaw did the same curious as to why they only put in half the feathers. Longpaw led Firepaw back to the apprentice den. Once they were inside the den Longpaw started to paw around some moss. Firepaw watched for a moment before he realized that Longpaw was making a nest for him and added his feathers into the nest along with Longpaw's feather's. He noticed that Longpaw had placed his nest right in between a nest with Dovepaw's scent on it and a nest that had Longpaw's on scent on it. Lightningpaw's nest was on the other side of Dovepaw's and Runningpaw's nest near Longpaw's nest. Runningpaw was currently curled up in her nest sleeping peacefully. Dovepaw had just settled down into her nest to sleep. Firepaw thanked Longpaw for preparing his nest and curled up and let sleep come to him.

Firepaw awoke to a paw jabbing him in the side. He opened his vibrant green eyes and glanced up at Longpaw who was standing over him. Longpaw jabbed him again for good measure.

"Wake up you lazy lump of fur before Goldenstar shreds your ears." Longpaw hissed into Firepaw's ear. Firepaw's eyes widened.

'The patrol with Goldenstar.' thought Firepaw as he quickly darted out of the den and raced toward the entrance. Longpaw watched him go with a look of amusement on his face.

The light from the sun was just beginning to rise. Firepaw sighed with relief that he made it to the entrance just before dawn. Goldenstar was approaching the entrance with an amused expression on her face. Firepaw realized with a slight bit of embarrassment that Goldenstar probably saw him running franticly from the apprentice den to entrance of the camp. He had been so focused on reaching the entrance that he hadn't noticed the medicine cat Fallowpelt had come up to him and dropped a pile of herbs at his feet. Firepaw looked at her with questioning eyes. Fallowpelt purred softly.

"They're traveling herbs they'll give you the energy to explore our full territory." Fallowpelt explained as she watched Firepaw make a curious sniff at the bundle of herbs.

"Um thanks…..I think" murmured Firepaw as he started to gulp down the bitter tasting herbs. He made a face as he swallowed the last gulp and Fallowpelt laughed softly before heading back to her den, giving a respectable nod to Goldenstar as she passed her. Goldenstar gave her a nod in return, before focusing her attention to Firepaw. Her amber eyes glowed with amusement.

"Good morning Firepaw" Goldenstar meowed briskly.

"Good morning Goldenstar" Firepaw meowed and dipped his head to Goldenstar. She purred softly before moving toward the tunnel. She stopped and looked over her shoulder beckoning him forward with her tail. Firepaw followed her moving quickly through the tunnel before emerging outside the camp. Goldenstar bounded down the hill with Firepaw right on her tail. When they reached the bottom, Goldenstar took off in the direction of the twolegplace. She weaved through trees and leaped over small boulders and bushes with a single leap. Firepaw stayed a tail length behind her weaving around the trees, rocks and bushes.

Goldenstar stopped at a grassy clearing where a large oak tree stood in the center. Goldenstar turn to Firepaw and pointed her tail at the clearing.

"This is where we practice battle training with our apprentices. I will be teaching you so techniques soon" Goldenstar meowed looking over the area. Firepaw wondered briefly why they would chose this place to train the apprentices with such a big tree in the center. He turned to ask Goldenstar but she was already moving further into the territory. In the same direction as before. They reached a large tree that had a hollow opening in the center of it. Goldenstar stopped a few tail lengths from the tree.

"This is Bat Hollow during newleaf and greenleaf this tree roosts many bats. They taste pretty good as a prey source but, we only catch them before dawn and at dusk when they return and leave the hollow respectively." Goldenstar meowed moving around the tree. Firepaw followed her and watched as she pointed her tail forward.

"If we keep traveling in that direction we will end up at the twolegplace and I'm sure you know what that looks like already." Goldenstar changed direction moving just as briskly as she had before, with Firepaw a tail length behind her.

They reached a small clearing where a large pointed boulder sat atop a flat stone forming a small shelter big enough for three or four cats to shelter under. The rock that acted as the roof, from the smooth point of the rock to the stone beneath it was at least a three tail lengths high and two fox lengths wide. The rock sloped down to about half a tail length off the ground. The rock beneath it was a few pawsteps high and just as wide as the roof. Goldenstar padded up onto the flat stone and in one single bound was staring down at Firepaw from the top of smooth pointed rock. Firepaw could tell that three or four more cats could stand on that rock without fear of falling off. Goldenstar beckoned him to stand with her, so Firepaw went around to the back where the jump was half a tail length high and climbed up and stood next to Goldenstar. As he looked around the forest from his place on the rock he felt powerful and energized like he could run through the whole forest. The sun shined down on his pelt making it look as though it was replaced by a blaze of fire. Goldenstar watched him with an affectionate look in her eyes.

"What we stand on is called the Sun Rock and I'm sure you can guess why." Firepaw nodded and took in the scents that surround the rock. He smelt the faint scent of his clanmates around the rock.

"Do our clanmates come here often?" he asked. Goldenstar nodded.

"Yes they do it's a nice place to warm up your pelt after a hunt or a short break during a patrol." she meowed. With that said she leaped down from the rock waiting patiently for Firepaw to follow. Firepaw hesitated staring down at her with a slight look of disappointment in his eyes. Goldenstar purred softly at him

"Come on Firepaw there will be other times to spend around the Sun Rock but it's time we continue our patrol" she soothed. Firepaw moved down the rock over to a side that was about two tail lengths off the ground and reluctantly jumped down and moved to his mentor's side. She ran her tail over his ears briefly before continuing in the direction they had been going before reaching the Sun Rock.

They hadn't gone far before they reached a sandy bank beside the river. They jumped down the slope and stood in the soft sand, which stretched a bit down river.

"This is the Sand Shore. It's another spot we like to rest and enjoy the waves of the sun and at certain times of the day, it becomes a great spot to catch birds. Unfortunately it's also a great spot for fishing according to RiverClan so we have fought with them for seasons over this land." Goldenstar mewled while moving to sit in the sandy bank.

'I can imagine why.' thought Firepaw as he sat down close to Goldenstar. The sound of the river and the warmth of the sun relaxed him. It was a nice calm place to rest and relax.

"Can you scent RiverClan?" she asked as she looked across the river. Firepaw rose to his paws and tasted the air letting the scents come to him. He could scent a starling close by as well as a swallow. He breathed in deeper until he caught the faint scent of cats coming from across the river. It didn't smell very good it had a lingering fishy odor.

"RiverClan eat fish right?" he asked. Goldenstar nodded.

"Yes it is their main source of prey; the river feeds and protects them. They are the only clan that actually enjoys swimming." A shudder went down Firepaw's back at the thought of swimming in the river.

"I did smell cats but the scent was stale." Firepaw meowed laying down on the sandy ground enjoying the gentle breeze that ruffled his pelt. Goldenstar gave him a soft nod before stretching and padding back toward the forest. Firepaw began to follow her when she stopped him.

"I think it's time for a break, I'll go get us some prey you just rest there." she mewled before moving off into the forest. Firepaw watched her go before settling back onto the sandy ground. Moments later Goldenstar appeared with a fat quail in her jaws. Firepaw moved to her and helped her pluck off the feathers. They shared the prey and rested in the sun for a bit. It was almost Sunhigh when they left.

Goldenstar changed direction again back into the forest in the opposite direction of the twolegplace, the river could be seen, in a distance, through the trees. They reached a stream with deep moving water. The water flowed from the river into the stream. Firepaw could see a log that was pushed up against two small boulders on each side. The log appeared to be submerged in the water with mud keeping in it firmly in place and formed a bridge two the other side. The water moved around the crevices formed by the two small boulders flowing steadily into the stream. From where they stood a bit further downstream, there were a some rocks that formed stepping stones across to the other side. Goldenstar ignored the stones save for the stone in the center and cleared the stream with two bounds. Firepaw jumped every other stone before reaching the other side to stand beside Goldenstar.

"This stream goes straight through our territory. It becomes narrower and shallower the further it goes down our territory until its narrow enough to cross in a single leap. If we had started going in this direction when we left camp it wouldn't have been long before we reached the creek." she mewled. She moved forward with Firepaw right behind her. There were less mossy rocks on this side of the stream and more bramble bushes and bracken that covered the ground. There were still plenty of trees and the scent of birds still hung in the air. They continued forward still keeping the river in sight.

Awhile after they had left the stream behind them, Firepaw froze and tasted the air. Goldenstar had stopped ahead of him and was doing the same. She beckoned Firepaw over to her and used her tail to point at log that was further up.

"You smelt it too?" she asked. Firepaw nodded

"What is it?" he asked breathing in the scent again.

"That scent came from a weasel. They generally eat mice and voles but they're not above eating some birds and bird eggs. They aren't very big, they have long bodies, a long thin furry tail, little ears and semi long muzzle with plenty of sharp teeth. Their fur is usually light brown or a reddish color. They aren't usually a problem if they see more than one cat they usually find somewhere to hide. But they can be a pest when it comes to hunting birds. If you see one feel free to chase it off, preferably out of our territory, but use caution they may not be very big but they give as good as they get." meowed Goldenstar. Firepaw glanced at the log before turning looking at Goldenstar.

"Do any live close by?" he asked.

"Well they don't tend stay in the same spot for long. I'm guessing the one we scented was probably staying in that log over there and has just left to go hunting. I think I'll send a patrol to find out where it went. If there is one there will be more and I won't stand for it taking all of our prey." she meowed. They moved away from the fallen log and further into the trees.

"This part of the forest wasn't always ours" meowed Goldenstar suddenly. Firepaw looked up in surprise.

"It wasn't?" he asked curiously. Goldenstar shook her head.

"Many seasons ago, before I was even born, Darkstar, a former leader of SkyClan, gave up this part of our territory to ThunderClan." Firepaw stared at her in disbelief.

"Why would he do such a thing?" he mewled.

"He did it because ThunderClan at the time had grown a lot and needed more territory to feed its growing Clan." She meowed

"Well it's not ThunderClan territory now so I assume that SkyClan got it back?" he asked. She purred softly at him.

"Yes it was seasons after Darkstar had long joined the ranks of StarClan, our ancient warrior ancestors that watch over us." she added after noticing Firepaw's confusion after she had mentioned StarClan. "A SkyClan leader named Cloudstar led us to a victory in which we reclaimed this territory. There have been battles over this part of our territory since but as of this moment it's our land."

They continued through the forest until they came to clearing where the scent of birds wasn't as strong. Firepaw quickly picked up the scent of SkyClan and some other cat scent lingering from the bushes and trees ahead of them.

"This is our border with ThunderClan." meowed Goldenstar moving closer to the bushes and adding fresher scent marks along the border. They continued along the border placing scent marks as they went. Goldenstar suddenly veered away from the border and raced back through the trees. When they reached the creek this time it was narrow enough for them to clear it with one leap. The moved in the opposite direction from the river until they reached what looked like a long black river of rock that smelt horrible.

"This is the Thunderpath monsters run along it and they tend to carry twolegs in their bellies. They never leave the Thunderpath so as long as you stay off the Thunderpath you'll be safe from them."

Just as Goldenstar finished talking, monsters roared pass them going down the Thunderpath. Firepaw shook a little after they were gone. Goldenstar touched her nose to his shoulder a moment to comfort him. She then led him back into the trees moving back toward the twolegplace. They continued on until they reached a small cave that carried the faint stale scent of badger.

"This is Badger Cave. It's called this because for many seasons badgers have come to live in it. The last badger that lived here died last leaf-bare, we come here frequently to see if one has moved in. Well I think it's time we head back to camp" she mewled. Firepaw nodded followed her back toward camp.

(Phew I'm going to stop it there. We'll probably look at some hunting lessons in the next chapter and maybe some battle training. )


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Firepaw and Goldenstar return to camp not long after Sunhigh. Firepaw felt his energy starting to ebb away as he moved through the tunnel. When he emerged into camp he immediately felt as though he was being watched. The fur along his spine tingled as he looked around the camp. At first he thought that he was just imagining the feeling of being watched until he locked eyes with Stonetooth, who was sitting just outside the warriors den. He could feel the intensity burning behind those amber eyes. However, as soon as his eyes had connected with Stonetooth's, the gray warrior broke the stare and turn around disappearing into the warrior's den.

'That was odd, but maybe he just isn't use to seeing me in camp.' Firepaw thought. Before he could think any further, a soft voice called his name. He looked up and saw Runningpaw sitting in front of him.

"Oh hi Runningpaw what are you doing?" he asked.

"Well Owltalon asked Smokecloud to teach me a new battle move today, since he went hunting today. I'm just waiting for him to finish speaking with Squirrelfur." she mewled.

"Why is he talking to Squirrelfur?" he asked curiously. She purred softly batting at one of his ears.

"Well it might be because she is pregnant with his kits, but I could be wrong." she said with a slight laugh.

"Oh, well then would you like me to go get him?" he asked.

"No need, I'm here" meowed a new voice. Firepaw turn to see the dark gray tom pad up to the two apprentices. Runningpaw got to her feet and followed him into the tunnel meowing a brisk farewell to Firepaw. Firepaw bid her goodbye and moved to the apprentice den, where Longpaw was currently sunning himself. As he approached Longpaw meowed a greeting to him.

"Hey Firepaw how was your patrol with Goldenstar?" he asked

"It was great. Thanks for waking me up by the way." Firepaw meowed with a sheepish grin on his face. Longpaw tapped Firepaw's shoulder with his tail.

"Think nothing of it. Anything happen while you were exploring the territory?" Before Firepaw could answer he was cut off by Lightningpaw.

"Of course nothing happened while they were out." Lightningpaw scoffed. Firepaw flicked his tail agitated.

"If you must know something did happen while we were out of camp." snipped Firepaw.

"Oh I highly doubt that since Goldenstar would have never let you be out of camp as long as you were." meowed a new voice. Firepaw turned his glare from Lighningpaw to the new voice. He came face to face with a long legged black tom with a gray muzzle. He immediately recognized him as Spiderfang.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Firepaw meowed with an edge in his voice. Spiderfang puffed up his chest before answering.

"I mean Goldenstar would never have taken you out by herself if there was a chance one of the Clans would start trouble." Firepaw open his mouth to speak but was cut off by Spiderfang.

"That's the problem with being an apprentice, you can't go anywhere without a mentor or your mentor's permission. Other than patrols or assignments we warriors don't need permission to leave the camp, and we don't-"

"Brag about our status to apprentices, because it could get us put back on apprentice duties." growled Sootpelt who had come up behind the dark warrior and was currently giving him an annoyed look at the back of his head. Spiderfang gulped and had the decency to look embarrassed as he turned to face Sootpelt. Sootpelt shook his head.

"Honestly Spiderfang, do I need to tell Goldenstar that you need a few more moons back in the apprentice den? Because your certainly not acting like a warrior." Spiderfang looked horrified and quickly shook his head no.

"I'm sorry Sootpelt." Sootpelt scoffed.

"It's not me you should apologize too." Firepaw could tell Spiderfang was fighting back the urge to sneer at him as he hissed out his apology. Sootpelt gave a nod fixing Spiderfang with a glare.

"If you weren't so busy gloating in front of the apprentices, you would know that Goldenstar called you to be a part of the patrol that is going out to track down the weasel she and Firepaw discovered while out in our territory." Spiderfang's, Lightningpaw's and Longpaw's eye's widened. Firepaw couldn't help but feel a little satisfaction.

"Just one or were there more?" asked Spiderfang.

"You won't know if you don't move your tail." Sootpelt growled again. Spiderfang took off toward the tunnel where Silverwind and Blackflower were waiting. Sootpelt watched him go before turning his attention back to the three apprentices.

"Lightningpaw, I believe Ashstorm told you to get mouse bile from Fallowpelt for Ivyclaw's ticks. You better hurry." Lightningpaw grumbled a bit, but raced off to find Fallowpelt. Sootpelt watched him go before turning his attention back to the two other apprentices.

"Don't let them get to you, you're no different than any other apprentice." Sootpelt meowed before walking off. Firepaw's pelt fluffed out a bit at Sootpelt's comment. Longpaw meowed an agreement before heading toward the fresh-kill pile promising to bring back something for Firepaw. Firepaw thanked him before glancing around the camp again. He was disappointed that he didn't see the familiar white pelt of Dovepaw. He turned to Longpaw who had returned from the fresh-kill pile and had dropped a thrush at his paws.

"Where's Dovepaw? I saw Runningpaw when I came into camp." asked Firepaw as he pulled the feathers off his thrush. Longpaw took a bite of his starling before answering.

"She went on a hunting patrol not long ago with Mapletail and Owltalon." he meowed through a mouthful of starling. Firepaw looked amused by his friend talking between each bite. His eyes brightened as he thought of the white apprentice. Suddenly a thought came to him as he watched Lightningpaw cross the clearing.

"Why did Ashstorm tell Lightningpaw to get bile for Ivyclaw?" Longpaw laughed his eyes sparkled in amusement.

"Lightningpaw didn't listen to Ivyclaw when she was telling him he didn't put enough feathers in Toadleg's nest. Lightningpaw told her that she didn't know what she was talking about. Toadleg was livid when he finally got in his nest and almost clawed Lightningpaw's ears off. Lightningpaw got mad at Ivyclaw saying she distracted him from putting in more feathers. If Ashstorm hadn't come into the elder's den right then I think Ivyclaw would have sent Lightningpaw to Starclan early." Firepaw purred with amusement.

He started to take another bite of the thrush before he once again felt like he was being watch, though with not as much intensity as before. Firepaw looked around and saw Sharpkit and Leafkit wrestling just outside the nursery. As he watched them the feeling came back and a flash of fur in front of the entrance in the nursery made him look up. He spotted Sunkit watching him from the entrance of the nursery. Firepaw thought that he had seen a flash of sadness in her eyes before she turned her gaze onto her brother and Leafkit. Firepaw then remembered yesterday how Redflower said she would get better with time. He nudged Longpaw who was taking another bite of his starling.

"You told me yesterday wasn't the time to talk about what was wrong with Sunkit. Will you tell me now?" he asked curiously. Longpaw gave a heavy sigh before answering.

"Yeah okay, you see Redflower use to have three kits. Her third kit was named Flamekit. Almost a full moon ago, Flamekit snuck out of the nursery a little before Sunhigh while his mother and siblings were having a nap. We hadn't noticed he was missing until Redflower woke up and yowled that he was missing. We searched for him in camp and through our territory, until one of our warriors found his body near a den that use to belong to a fox. His body was litter in teeth marks and he had the scent of fox on him. The only odd thing was the teeth marks weren't long enough to be from an adult fox, but it might have been a younger fox. Sunkit hasn't been the same since he died." Firepaw felt a little sadness for Sunkit. He glanced at the nursery before focusing back on Longpaw.

"How did Sharpkit take it?" he asked sadly.

"He took it better than her. He has always been closer to Leafkit, than Flamekit and Sunkit. Flamekit was closer to Sunkit and they spent a lot of time together. It's probably why she took his death so hard." Longpaw said with a sad mew. Firepaw picked at what was left of his thrush. He didn't have much of an appetite. Suddenly a thought came to Firepaw as he thought over what Longpaw had told him.

"Did she stop talking to everyone after he died?" Longpaw seemed to think for a moment.

"Now that you mention it, she did stop speaking to the other warriors and she barely speaks to the apprentices." Firepaw was going to respond when a familiar white pelt brushed against his own pelt. He looked up to see Dovepaw standing beside him. She purred softly.

"Hi Firepaw, I saw you and Goldenstar today while you were out patrolling." She meowed. Firepaw's, eyes widened in surprise.

"You did? I didn't see you or your hunting patrol." Longpaw and Dovepaw purred in amusement.

"Maybe if you had looked up you would have seen me." she meowed. Firepaw looked confused.

"But if I had looked up, all I would have seen are a bunch of tree branches… wait you were hunting in the trees?" Dovepaw gave him a quick nod.

"Yes its part of being a SkyClan cat we hunt in the trees." she purred softly.

"Wow that's amazing." Firepaw meowed. He began to imagine himself leaping up jumping from tree branch to tree branch.

"I bet Goldenstar will start teaching you to hunt soon. She'll probably teach you how to catch birds while they are in mid-flight." meowed Longpaw, as he gathered up his feathers. Firepaw looked at his half eaten thrush and nudged it to Dovepaw.

"Would you like some of my thrush Dovepaw?" he asked looking at the white apprentice. Dovepaw nodded and purred her thanks before finishing the rest of Firepaw's thrush. Firepaw and Dovepaw gathered up the thrush feathers and brought them to spot where feathers were stored. They made their way over to the apprentice den's settling down in their nests to sleep.

Firepaw woke up to a voice calling his name from outside the den. He stretched out of his basket and noticed that Dovepaw and Longpaw sleep in their nests. Lightningpaw and Runningpaw weren't in the den.

"Firepaw are you awake?" called Goldenstar into the den.

"Yes Goldenstar I'm coming" he meowed as he moved toward the opening of the den. As he stepped outside the apprentice den, Goldenstar sat patiently watching him as he gave himself another stretch.

"Come Firepaw, today I'll be teaching you how to hunt follow me." she meowed as she moved toward the entrance of camp. As they approached the entrance, Firepaw could see Runningpaw and Owltalon sitting patiently beside the tunnel. Goldenstar meowed a greeting which they both returned. Goldenstar turned to Firepaw and meowed softly.

"Okay Firepaw as I said we will be hunting today and Owltalon and Runningpaw are coming with us." she meowed. Firepaw nodded, his eyes shining with excitement. Goldenstar led the way through the tunnel with Firepaw right behind her. Runningpaw took her place right behind Firepaw and Owltalon brought up the rear.

Goldenstar led the patrol through the forest. Firepaw watched as they passed the training area. He could see, through the trees, the large oak that stood proudly in the center of the grassy clearing. Goldenstar led them to an area where there were bushes a circle of bushes were surrounded by the trees. Goldenstar moved to the center of the bush circle, she beckoned for Firepaw to stand with her.

"Owltalon you can take Runningpaw over there to hunt for a little, while I work with Firepaw." Goldenstar meowed as she pointed her toward a few oak trees a few fox lengths away. Owltalon nodded a led his apprentice over to the oak trees. Firepaw watched as the pair silently leaped into the closet tree, vanishing in the cover of leaves.

"Okay Firepaw, I'm going to show you how to ambush a bird from a leaping behind bushes. If you do this technique properly you should be able to snatch any bird that flies past you without having to wait for it to be on the ground." meowed Goldenstar. Firepaw nodded. Goldenstar motioned for Firepaw to follow her behind a bramble bush. She showed him how he should crouch, flexing her hind legs slightly before giving a great leap in to the air making a swiping movement with her forepaws. She landed in the center of the clearing and turned to bush Firepaw was still crouched behind.

"Okay Firepaw, you give it a try." meowed Goldenstar. Though it was still a little dark Firepaw had been able to see what Goldenstar showed him. Firepaw crouched down; he took a short breath and leaped a high as he could into the air. He didn't get as high up as Goldenstar, but it was still a pretty good jump. He remembered to swipe the air with his forepaws the way Goldenstar showed him before landing in the clearing close to Goldenstar.

"Not bad, but we'll have to work on the height of your jump." meowed Goldenstar. Firepaw nodded and they practiced a little more before Owltalon and Runningpaw rejoined them each with a fair catch of prey. Firepaw watched as they buried their catches. Goldenstar gave them a nod before leading them off in the direction of the twolegplace.

The sun had begun to peek over the horizon as they reached the Bat Hollow. Firepaw noticed a black cloud approaching from the distance. He was going to tell Goldenstar that maybe they should wait to hunt believing the approaching cloud to be a storm cloud, until he realized the cloud was flying through the trees. He then began to make little screeching noises. Firepaw realized that they were bats and turned to look at Goldenstar who was moving behind a bramble bush. Firepaw noticed Runningpaw and Owltalon do the same. Firepaw quickly ducked behind a bush the closest to him and waited for the bats to get closer. He crouched low remembering what Goldenstar had showed him. The screeching got louder as they soar over head. Firepaw leaped into the air swiping with his forepaws and knocked down three bats. He saw out of the corner of his eye owl talon doing the same thing. Firepaw landed and looked at the three bats he managed to hit. One had died from impact with the ground, another had a broken wing and its breathing was shallow. Firepaw gave it a swift bite to the neck. As Firepaw moved to inspect the third it took off into the sky before Firepaw could stop it. Goldenstar approached Firepaw with three bats hanging from her jaws. She put them down to speak with him.

"You did well, however you should have pounced on that third bat as soon as you landed." she mewled as she looked at his two other catches.

"I didn't think it was still alive." Firepaw meowed.

"I suppose your right, but be more careful in the future." She turned to look at Runningpaw and Owltalon who each had two bats.

"Owltalon give Firepaw your catches and go get the prey you and Runningpaw stashed earlier. I'll take our apprentices back to camp." Owltalon meowed nodded and put his prey next to Firepaw's before leaping into the forest. Goldenstar showed Firepaw how to carry the bats by their wings, before leading both him and Runningpaw back to camp. As they walked the birds that lived in the forest started to sing. Firepaw noticed a chaffinch land on a small boulder not far them. He placed the bats on the ground and snuck carefully toward the chaffinch. Just as he was about to pounce, the bird took flight, but this time Firepaw was prepared for it and brought the chaffinch back down to the ground. He delivered a swift bite to the neck and walked back over to Runningpaw and Goldenstar. Goldenstar gave him a nod of approval as he carried his catch over.

"Well done that was a good catch." meowed Goldenstar. Runningpaw softly meowed her own praise to Firepaw as he picked up his catch and three of the bats. Runningpaw picked up the final bat along with her other two.

When they entered camp, the three brought their catches to the fresh-kill pile. Goldenstar told Firepaw to eat something before walking off to speak to Finchflight, who had emerged from the warriors den not long after they came into the camp. Firepaw looked at the fresh-kill pile looking for something to eat. Longpaw emerged from the apprentice den and joined him beside the fresh-kill pile. After meowing a greeting to newly the awakened apprentice, he searched through the pile before settling on one of the bats they had caught earlier. Longpaw pulled out a wren and led Firepaw to the spot they usually go to eat. Firepaw took a bite of the bat and found it tasted better than he thought it would. Runningpaw came over to join them with a swallow in her jaws. She settled down beside Longpaw.

"You did well on your first hunt Firepaw." Runningpaw meowed as she stripped the feathers off her swallow. Longpaw looked up from his wren and looked at Runningpaw and Firepaw.

"You guys went hunting together? Before dawn?" meowed Longpaw. Firepaw nodded.

"Yeah Goldenstar and Owltalon took us out early to catch some bats." meowed Firepaw.

"Yes Firepaw, caught two bats on his very first try and a chaffinch." Runningpaw added in. Longpaw gave a sigh of relief.

"Thank StarClan." muttered Longpaw as he sank his teeth into back into his wren. Firepaw looked at him with a confused expression on his face. Runningpaw purred softly in amusement before biting into the swallow. Dovepaw emerged from the apprentice den and meowed a greeting over to the three. Firepaw felt his pelt warming up as he watched her walk up to them.

"Hey Dovepaw are you hungry? You want a bite?" meowed Longpaw between mouthfuls of wren. Dovepaw purred in amusement before shaking her head.

"No sorry, I'm going on patrol with Smokecloud, Hawkwing and Sootpelt." she meowed

Smokecloud emerged from the nursery and headed toward the entrance. Hawkwing and Sootpelt were waiting at the entrance. Dovepaw head over to the group waving to them with her tail. Firepaw watched her go with a sigh before gathering up the bat wings.

"Oh Firepaw, bring those to Fallowpelt, she uses them for different things in the medicine den." meowed Firepaw walked over to the medicine cat den. He called a greeting into the entrance.

"Oh hello Firepaw, is there something you need?" meowed Fallowpelt coming out of the den.

"I just wanted to bring you these bat wings, I heard you use them for a lot of things" Firepaw pushed the wings forward.

"Oh yes thank you I'll store these away." Fallowpelt mewled as she picked up the wings.

"Well I should probably go find Goldenstar." meowed Firepaw as Fallowpelt moved to put the wings into the den.

"Okay if you need anything come find me." meowed Fallowpelt.

"I will" Firepaw started back toward the apprentice den, when Goldenstar called him from a spot in front of her den. Finchflight was standing right beside her.

"Firepaw, I would like you to go get Longpaw, we'll be working on some fighting moves today." she meowed purring at the excitement she saw in Firepaw's eyes.

( I think this is my longest chapter I've done so far. Firepaw found out a little about Sunkit. Firepaw will learn some new battle moves. I might start moving time faster in the next chapter. )


	6. Chapter 6

(Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but school is a pain and so on and I haven't gotten around to working on this story.

Okay in this chapter we find out a little bit about Goldenstar and Finchflight.

This story actually started about a quarter moon (a week) before Firepaw would have joined Thunderclan. For those of you wondering why there hasn't been a gathering yet.)

Chapter 6

Firepaw and Longpaw were following their mentors to the training area. It had warmed up a bit and the sun made Firepaw's fur blaze as if his pelt was made of flame. They arrived at the training area and moved to into the clearing. Goldenstar moved to sit in front of the oak tree.

"Today we will practice the Sky Drop. This move is an ambush move that our Clan has used for many seasons. The first thing I would like you to do is to climb at least three fox length's up the oak tree. Then I want you to walk out to the thinnest branch and balance yourself on it. Be careful, if the branch feels like it will snap under your weight then back up and try a different branch. I just want to see how you will handle leaping out of a tree, before you actually practice landing on another cats back." she meowed calmly.

Firepaw wasn't sure if he should be worried or excited. He had wondered what it would be like to jump from tree branch to tree branch, but he wasn't sure if he was ready to actually try to jump through the trees. Longpaw nudged Firepaw to snap him out of his thoughts. He noticed that Goldenstar was watching him intensely. Firepaw shook his head slightly, and looked up at the oak. He leaped up and climbed a couple fox lengths up the tree and began to padded onto the closest branch beside him. As he walked across the branch he looked down below him and froze mid step. He had never climbed this high up on a tree before, and he started to get nervous that he would fall.

"Come on Firepaw, climb up here." Firepaw tore his eyes away for a moment and saw that another fox length and a half up the tree was Longpaw looking at him expectantly. Firepaw shook his head and shivered a little.

"Firepaw, walk out to the thinnest part of the branch and jump down." meowed Goldenstar. Firepaw looked down at her worriedly, before padding out further on the branch hoping not to fall off. He started to slip and panicked causing him to fall to the ground. Luckily he landed on his feet and avoided serious injury. Goldenstar rushed over to him.

"Are you alright?" she meowed worriedly.

"Of course he's alright, he didn't fall that far." meowed Finchflight. Goldenstar whipped her head around to look at Finchflight.

"Finchflight, he wasn't born a SkyClan cat and I'm sure that he hasn't climbed a tree that high before." Firepaw looked at his paws ashamed. He knew if he truly wanted to be a SkyClan warrior he would have to get used to being high up in trees.

"I'm okay Goldenstar." meowed Firepaw. Goldenstar nodded at him before turning back to Finchflight.

"Why don't you continue teaching Longpaw the Sky Drop, I'll work on some battle tactics with Firepaw." she meowed before motioning Firepaw to follow her with her tail.

They moved away from the oak tree to some softer, warm, grass. Goldenstar spun around quickly to face Firepaw.

"Okay Firepaw are you ready?" asked Goldenstar. Firepaw shifted on his paws and gave her a quick nod.

"Very well" without warning Goldenstar shot forward, Firepaw raced forward to try and unbalance her, but Goldenstar seemed to expect the move and dodged out of the way, twisting her head around to head butt Firepaw in the side causing him to tumble across the soft grass. He shook himself before standing up turning around to face Goldenstar.

"Shall we continue?" she called. Before Firepaw could answer her, she had rushed forward again. Firepaw waited and dodged just as she was within range to strike him, however, she whipped her hind legs around fast enough to catch him and sent him spinning across the ground. Goldenstar turned to face him.

"Firepaw I want you to think about my attacks and plan ahead. I won't always do the same maneuver and neither will your opponent. Do you understand?" Firepaw panted slightly as he got to his paws.

"Yes I understand." he breathed. Goldenstar nodded

"Very well then." she meowed before once again racing forward. Firepaw watched her carefully. When she was within range to strike him again, he made a move as if to dodge her again then leaped at her paws unbalancing her and twisting around to back-kick her in the chest, making Goldenstar roll across the ground. Firepaw watched as the golden she-cat got to her paws with a slight purr in her chest.

"Well done, now will see how you handle this move." The lesson continued on until sometime close to dusk. Goldenstar called Longpaw and Finchflight telling them that training was over and that they should come with her and Firepaw back to camp. Goldenstar and Finchflight took the lead while Longpaw and Firepaw walked side by side behind the pair.

"Don't worry Firepaw, I won't tell Lightningpaw about the tree incident. Besides you didn't do half bad today." meowed Longpaw. Firepaw's ears burned with embarrassment as he thought of what the pale ginger warrior would say if he found out Firepaw fell out of a tree.

"Thanks Longpaw. You were pretty good yourself." meowed Firepaw.

"Naturally, after all you can't look like me and not be perfection." Firepaw couldn't help but laugh as said perfection tripped over a root on the ground and face planted into the dirt. Finchflight and Goldenstar looked back at the two.

"Are you alright Longpaw?" asked Finchflight. Firepaw could tell the golden warrior was trying his best to hide his amusement. Goldenstar however looked thoroughly amused.

"I'm okay Finchflight." Longpaw meowed with a sheepish grin on his face.

"Watch your footing next time." the golden warrior meowed before walking off with Goldenstar beside him in the direction of the camp.

Firepaw couldn't help but notice that Goldenstar and Finchflight seemed very close to each other. He murmured his thoughts to Longpaw. Longpaw purred.

"It must have something to do with the fact that Goldenstar was Finchflight's mentor." Firepaw eye's widened.

"Really? She was? Wow, I was thinking it was because they were related to each other in some way." meowed Firepaw.

"Oh they are, Goldenstar is also Finchflight's mother." Now Firepaw looked confused while he walked next to Longpaw.

"Why did Goldenstar mentor Finchflight?" asked Firepaw.

"It had something to do with his first mentor. He had a mentor name Crowheart who wasn't a very patient warrior. He didn't like Finchflight because he couldn't learn all the techniques fast enough. He told Cinderstar, the leader before Goldenstar, that Finchflight wasn't acting like an apprentice and told him he should be moved back to the nursery." Firepaw widened his eyes in shock.

"And Cinderstar agreed to it?" Longpaw nodded.

"Yep, he did, and Crowheart got another apprentice, but Goldenstar wouldn't have any of it. She took Finchflight out herself and trained him and he learned better under her teachings then he ever did with Crowheart. So Cinderstar decided, to make Goldenstar Finchflight's mentor." Firepaw watched the two golden warriors ahead of him before remembering something Longpaw had stated earlier.

"Who became Crowheart's new apprentice?" Longpaw looked deep in thought for a moment before answering.

"I believe it was Stonetooth."

When the group entered camp, Firepaw and Longpaw started to head off toward the apprentice den. Goldenstar stopped Firepaw.

"Firepaw, I want you to look after the elder's tomorrow understand?" Firepaw sighed before nodding. Firepaw caught up with Longpaw who was grooming his pelt in front of the entrance to the apprentice den. He looked up as Firepaw approached.

"Hey, what did Goldenstar want?" Firepaw sighed again.

"She wants me to take care of the elder's tomorrow." Longpaw looked at him sympathetically

"That's rough but it's a part of clan life so you were bound to do it sooner or later." Longpaw meowed softly.

"Yeah, but I wish it had been later." Firepaw sighed again.

"You wish what had happened later?" as soft voice called from within the apprentice den. Longpaw and Firepaw turn just in time to see Dovepaw emerge from the apprentice den.

"Goldenstar wants me to clean the elder's den tomorrow."

"Oh it will be okay, if I'm not doing anything tomorrow I'll help you." Firepaw thanked her.

"So how did your first time battle training go?" she asked.

"It was okay." he mumbled. Dovepaw looked confusedly a Longpaw. Who told her about his graceful landing from the oak tree.

"Longpaw, I thought you said you wouldn't tell anyone about that." Firepaw hissed in Longpaw's ear.

"Correction, I said I wouldn't tell Lightningpaw. I didn't say anything about Dovepaw" Longpaw meowed with a mischievous look on his face. Dovepaw looked at Firepaw with concern on her face.

"I wouldn't tell anyone about that Firepaw."

"Thanks Dovepaw that means a lot to me" Firepaw meowed softly. Longpaw rolled his eyes then gave himself a long stretch and a big yawn.

"Well I'm going to retire for the night. See you two in the morning." Firepaw watched him go with a shake of his head and stood to follow him, but was stopped by Dovepaw.

"Come with me." she murmured in his ear before leading him a small hole in the wall near the apprentice den. She motioned him to follow her as she crawled through the small opening. Firepaw looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to them before following her. We he emerged from opening he found Dovepaw waiting for him. She raced off quickly in one direction. Firepaw chased after weaving through the trees and undergrowth through the forest. As they ran Firepaw felt the stress of the day leave him as he chased Dovepaw through the forest. When they reached a clearing, Firepaw recognized it to be the clearing for the Sun Rock. He saw Dovepaw perched at the very top. The light from the three-quarter moon made her snow white pelt glow beautifully. Her sparkling blue eyes looked warmly down at him.

"Well are you going to just stand there or are you going to climb up here with me?" she teased. Firepaw quickly scrambled up the rock to stand beside the white apprentice. He looked up and thought the view was beautiful. It looked almost as though they were standing underneath the moon.

"It's beautiful isn't it? I like to think of this rock as the Rock of Stars during the night since it holds this great view of the moon and the stars." meowed Dovepaw.

"It's amazing." Dovepaw watched Firepaw briefly before sneaking off the rock and running over to a nearby tree.

"Come over here I can show you an even better view." Firepaw turned just in time to see Dovepaw start to climb the tree. Without a thought he raced over to her and started to climb up right behind her. They continued to climb up the tree until Dovepaw started to walk out onto a branch with Firepaw sitting right beside her.

"I knew you could do it" she purred softly. Firepaw blinked at her

"What do you mean?"

"Look down." Firepaw looked down and was shocked to see that he had climbed halfway up the oak tree, which was further then the height he climbed in the training area, plus the tree they were in was bigger than the one in the training area. Dovepaw looked at him in amusement before looking back up to the stars.

"My mother use to take me out here and we would look up into the stars here together. I miss her, She died in a skirmish over territory some moons ago." Firepaw touched his nose to her shoulder.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's okay, It was long ago and I know she is watching over me from StarClan and that she is proud of me." Firepaw purred softly, they brushed their pelts together and gaze into the starry sky.

Two sunrises passed, Firepaw was on a patrol with Goldenstar, Mapletail and Spiderfang. They were heading toward their border with ThunderClan. Goldenstar was leading the group with Mapletail and Firepaw walking next to each other and Spiderfang bringing up the rear. Mapletail was telling Firepaw the best spot to look for pheasants and quails during Greenleaf. Firepaw was grateful for her wisdom and wondered if Goldenstar was going to let her show him some hunting techniques. As they approached the border, Goldenstar halted them and told them to remain silent. Firepaw looked at his mentor curiously after he noticed his clanmates tense up. Goldenstar murmured for him to use his nose. He breathed in the air and smelt the unmistakable scents of ThunderClan approaching to the border. He started to flex his claws when Goldenstar touched her tail to his shoulder and murmured for him not to say or do anything to provoke the other cats. Soon the ThunderClan warriors were within sight and Firepaw got a good look at the group. There was a pale gray she-cat with blue eyes, walking side by side with a large golden tom with thick fur that wrapped around his neck like a lion's mane. Behind them padded a long haired gray tom. Leading the group was a tortoiseshell tom with a bright ginger tail. As they approached the ThunderClan patrol seemed to tense a bit as well at the sight of the SkyClan patrol. Mapletail came over to stand beside Firepaw.

"The tom leading the group is Redtail, he is ThunderClan's deputy." She murmured into his ear. Firepaw looked surprised, but nodded in understanding.

"Greetings Goldenstar, It is a surprise to see you at the border, I trust that prey runs well in your territory?" meowed Redtail giving a nod to Goldenstar..

"Indeed it does, I must say I didn't expect to run into a ThunderClan patrol, and I Trust that the prey is running well in your territory?"

"Yes, I see your Clan has grown." he meowed looking at Firepaw. Firepaw felt the whole ThunderClan patrol's gazes on his pelt. Firepaw looked at the young gray cat which he assumed to be an apprentice. The gray tom looked curiously at him before turning his head to murmuring something to the big golden tom. 'That must be his mentor.' thought Firepaw.

"It has, you'll hear all about it at the gathering." Goldenstar meowed. Firepaw wondered if she was also referring to Squirrelfur's kits that were born the sunrise before.

"I'm sure I will. Well we have to get on with our patrol."

"Yes we do as well, give my regards to Bluestar." She meowed leading her patrol in the direction of the thunderpath. The Firepaw watched as the ThunderClan patrol headed in the direction of their border with RiverClan. Firepaw turned to look at Mapletail and gave her a questioning look.

"Who were those other cats?" he asked curiously.

"Well, that miniature lion was Lionheart, he's a good strong warrior. The she-cat was Willowpelt, I know that she can be pretty fierce if pushed too hard. I'm not sure about the apprentice I haven't seen him at a gathering, he might be a new apprentice." Firepaw stopped to look back over his shoulder. He could just make out the gray pelt of the ThunderClan apprentice. 'If I had joined ThunderClan we probably would have been denmates. I wonder if we would have been friends?" he thought briefly. He turned back to his Clanmates and raced after them.

Firepaw lay in front of the apprentice den eating a robin. He and Runningpaw had just finished removing the soiled bedding from the elder's den and nursery and were currently resting. Runningpaw was lying beside him stretched out in the sun. Longpaw was out hunting with Finchflight and Dovepaw and Lightningpaw were out on a patrol. He couldn't help but wonder if the two would run into any of the other Clans' patrols like his patrol had the sunrise before. He started to take another bite of the robin when the Sunhigh patrol returned through the tunnel. Ashstorm who had led lead the patrol moved purposefully toward Goldenstar's den with Silverwind following closely behind him. Dovepaw furiously lashed her tail as she made her way to the apprentice den. Firepaw looked at her concerned.

"What's wrong Dovepaw?" he asked softly. Dovepaw softened her gaze and sighed before, turning her head to glare at Lightningpaw as the pale ginger apprentice padded after his mentor.

"Lightningpaw, that's what's wrong. I can't believe he did that."

"What did Lightningpaw do?" asked Runningpaw

"He chased this poor, helpless, kittypet kitten into ThunderClan territory." Runningpaw and Firepaw stared at her in disbelief.

"How did he do that?" asked Firepaw.

"Yes and how did that kitten get so far into our territory? And are you sure it was a Kittypet kitten?"

"Yes it was a kittypet because it had on a collar. As for how it got so far into our territory I'm not sure. Lightningpaw scared the poor thing so bad that I think it forgot which way the twolegplace was and Lightningpaw chased it across the creek and over our border with ThunderClan. He didn't even listen to Ashstorm when he told him not to chase him. I hope Ashstorm punishes him for it. I wonder what ThunderClan would do to the poor kitten." she meowed

"I wonder if he'll even be able to cross the border back into our territory to get home." Runningpaw wondered aloud.

"What did this kittypet look like?" asked Firepaw curiously.

"He was white and black. He looked like he might be around the age of an apprentice." meowed Dovepaw. Firepaw's eyes widened in horror. 'It couldn't be, no it can't be him he never would have placed a paw into the forest. It must be some other cat.' He felt a gentle nudge on his shoulder and turned to see Dovepaw watching him curiously.

"Are you ok?" Firepaw nodded and pushed his robin in front of her paws.

"Here, have some of my robin, I would eat the rest but I feel full." Dovepaw nodded briefly before taking a bite of Firepaw's robin. Firepaw watched her for a moment before his mind wondered back to the black and white kittypet.

(Okay I'm going to stop here I'll try to get the next chapter up soon. Some interesting stuff happened in this chapter. Tell me what you think of it.)


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Firepaw stretched from his spot beside Dovepaw and padded toward the entrance of camp. Dovepaw called after him.

"Firepaw, where are you going?" Firepaw turned his head to look back at her.

"I'm just going to go stretch my legs for a little bit and to maybe hunt a little I'm not going to go far." he meowed. She nodded and he continued through the camp entrance.

He padded toward the creek letting his thoughts go to the kittypet kitten. He continued on like this until he reached the creek. He measured the distance before taking a leap across the creek and landing easily on the other side. He padded forward continuing looking for any sign or smell that could tell him who the kittypet could have been. When he reached the border with ThunderClan he realized that he didn't know where Dovepaw had been patrolling that day, so he decided to start from the side of the border closer to RiverClan then move toward the Thunderpath. He padded in the direction of the RiverClan border looking for any signs of the kittypet. Just as he was getting close to the border that merged with the RiverClan and ThunderClan border he heard something rustling up ahead, he quickly bolted up the closet tree as quietly as possible. He crept out onto a branch making sure to use the leaves as cover. He saw a bush move and a cat emerged with its pelt damp with water. Firepaw bunched his muscles together prepared to spring onto the intruder when he looked closer and realized that the cat was Stonetooth. The gray warrior had stopped and was licking his fur dry. Firepaw also saw him clean what looked like mud from his paws before he began to pad in the direction of camp. 'That's strange, why was Stonetooth's fur wet? And why was he so close to the borders?'

Firepaw stalked silently toward an unsuspecting wood pigeon that was pecking at a berry at the base of a small bush. He kept to the shadows and crept toward the pigeon keeping his body low. He balanced carefully on his hind legs and sprang forward pinning the pigeon beneath his paws and delivering a swift bite to the back of its neck. He picked up the pigeon and carried it back toward camp. It had been a day since Firepaw had been told about the kittypet that was chased into ThunderClan territory. He had been wondering what had become of it. None of his Clanmates had reported scenting any unfamiliar cats , nor had any of them seen the kittypet and he couldn't help but wonder whether or not the kittypet was alive. He hadn't thought much about Stonetooth he figured the gray warrior had probably been tracking prey close to the border and accidentally crossed it and must have gotten his fur wet in the river. He cleared his thoughts as he entered the camp. He padded over to the fresh-kill pile and placed his catch on it. He had been hunting since dawn and it was now approaching sunhigh. He turned to go back to his hunting when a voice called out to him. He turned to see Hawkwing approaching him. He stopped to wait for the large broad shouldered tabby warrior.

"Hello Hawkwing" meowed Firepaw dipping his head respectively.

"Hello Firepaw, Goldenstar wants you to look after the elders now and afterward you can eat and rest." Firepaw nodded in understanding.

"Okay Hawkwing, thank you." Hawkwing nodded before heading toward the entrance. Firepaw felt lucky that Hawkwing had no problems with him. When he had first met the large tabby he had been intimidated by him but he found that Hawkwing was a kind and intelligent warrior and didn't judge Firepaw simply because he was a kittypet. As Hawkwing padded off, Firepaw watched him go before sighing and heading toward the elders den. He stopped just outside and called a greeting into the den. The gravelly voice of Blackbird answered him from within and he padded into the den and glanced around. Blackbird looked as though he had just awakened from a nap. Moonwatcher lay curled up in his nest, he had cracked open an eye and waved his tail in greeting to Firepaw. Firepaw waved back. Toadleg glared at him from his spot in his nest and grumbled under his breath about SkyClan going to the kittypets. Ivyclaw cuffed him behind the ear from her nest. She beckoned Firepaw over to her.

"Hello Firepaw, are you here to check up on us?" she meowed calmly.

"Yes Ivyclaw, do any of you need your bedding changed or have any ticks that need to be cracked?" asked Firepaw. Ivyclaw shook her head.

"No my beddings fine and I don't have any ticks, you should go check Blackbird he would probably have some ticks on him." Firepaw nodded before padding over to the ancient warrior. He nosed through the black warrior's fur and found that he had a few ticks on his shoulder and at the base of his tail. Firepaw stood and moved out of the elder's den heading for Fallowpelt's den. When he reached her den he called in a greeting to her. Fallowpelt was mixing herbs within her den.

"Come in Firepaw, what can I do for you? You didn't get an injury did you?" she asked keeping her eyes on her herbs.

"No I'm not injured but I wanted to know if you had any mouse bile for Blackbird's ticks?" Fallowpelt looked up at Firepaw for a moment before moving to the back of her den and she came out with moss soaked in a foul smelling liquid that hung from a stick. She placed it in front of Firepaw.

"Here you go, now make sure you don't get any of that in your mouth. Don't lick your paws wash them in the creek." she meowed giving Firepaw a stern look.

"I'll remember, thank you Fallowpelt." He meowed picking up the stick that had the bile soaked moss and carried it carefully to the elders den. He padded quickly over to Blackbird and took the moss and dabbed it on His shoulder and the base of his tail and waited till the ticks fell off before nosing through the ancient dark warrior's fur for more ticks. After he found that there wasn't any more he moved over to Moonwatcher and checked the blue eyed warrior for ticks and found one on the center of his back. He dabbed some bile onto the tick and waited for it to fall off before he headed over to Toadleg's nest. Toadleg lifted his head up from his nest and glared up at Firepaw.

"Do you have any ticks or need your bedding changed?" Firepaw asked warily watching Toadleg. Toadleg sniffed before growling out a no. Firepaw nodded and turned to look at Ivyclaw.

"Should I bring you all prey? Or have you all already eaten?" asked Firepaw. Ivyclaw stretched in her nest a little.

"Yes go get us some prey we haven't gotten any yet." Firepaw moved out of the elder's den and picked up two sparrows, a robin and a bat from the fresh-kill pile and carried them quickly back to the elder's den. He gave the sparrows to Blackbird and Moonflower and the robin to Toadleg. He placed the bat in front of Ivyclaw who purred gratefully at him. He padded over to Blackbird and help the old warrior pull the feathers off his sparrow. Blackbird purred softly before taking a bite of the prey.

"Thank you Firepaw, you may go rest now." he rasped softly before bending down to take another bite of his sparrow. Firepaw thanked him then left the elders den and raced out the camp entrance heading toward the creek.

After, he had soaked his paws in the creek ridding himself of his bile covered paws. He came back into camp heading back over to the fresh-kill pile he picked up his wood pigeon and headed over to the nursery. He hadn't had the chance yet to see Squirrelfur's two new kits and thought that this was the best opportunity to see the new kits. He spotted the dark ginger fur of Sharpkit who was wrestling with Leafkit just outside the nursery. He moved around them and looked into the nursery. Thrushfur and Redflower went out to hunt so only Snowfall and Squirrelfur were in the nursery. He sighed in relief when he didn't see Smokecloud anywhere insight. The dark gray warrior hadn't let anyone near his kits other than Goldenstar, Fallowpelt and the other queens since they had been born several days ago. In fact he hadn't left the nursery for a few days and just the day before had returned to his duties. Firepaw padded over to the two queens meowing a friendly greeting. The two queens purred softly as he approached.

"Hello Firepaw, is that for us?" meowed Snowfall nudging her two kits back to her belly. Firepaw nodded bring his pigeon over to her and placed it down in front of her. Squirrelfur purred tiredly and beckoned Firepaw over.

"I suppose you would like a look at my kits?" He nodded and came over to look at the two bundles of fur that squirmed into their mother's belly. One was a dark gray tom, the other was a lighter gray tom with darker flecks.

"This one is Stormkit and this one is Rainkit" Squirrelfur purred as she pointed at each of her kits with her tail.

"Their beautiful, I have no doubt that Smokecloud is proud of them." Firepaw purred watching Rainkit trying to squirm away from his mother. He gently nudged the kit back into Squirrelfur's belly. He felt soft fur brush against his right thigh. He looked to see Sunkit looking up at him happily.

"Hello Sunkit how are you?" he asked softly.

"I've been okay" she meowed very softly. Firepaw touched his nosed to her flank gently. He remembered Longpaw telling him that she had lost her other brother Flamekit almost a moon ago he knew she must still be dealing with the loss.

"Why aren't you playing with Sharpkit and Leafkit?"

"I wanted help Squirrelfur and Snowfall with their kits." she meowed. Firepaw opened his mouth to say something else when he felt more fur brush against his left side. He look down and saw Spottedkit and Cloverkit looking up at him.

"Are you an apprentice?" asked Spottedkit. Cloverkit rolled her eyes.

"Of course he's an apprentice otherwise he wouldn't be called Firepaw" she meowed to her sister. Spottedkit shuffled on her paws.

"What's it like being an apprentice?" asked Cloverkit. Firepaw watched them both with a look of amusement before answering.

"It's alright we have a lot of duties to do just like the warriors and we also have a lot to learn." meowed Firepaw.

"What's the camp like?" asked Spottedkit.

"Well if you ask you mother nicely maybe she'll let me show you the camp." he meowed looking questioningly at Snowfall. She gave him a nod. She looked down at her two kits who watched her with large pleading eyes.

"Yes you may go with Firepaw just make sure you stay out of the way of the warriors." she meowed. The two kits squealed happily and bounded over to Firepaw's nuzzling him excitedly. He looked at Sunkit who was curled up in her mother's nest.

"Sunkit would you like to come with us?" he asked softly. Her eyes brightened, she nodded and bounded over to the three brushing her pelt against Firepaw's. Firepaw purred before padding over to the entrance of the nursery with his three charges trailing behind him.

Firepaw had taken them all around camp, Sunkit helped explain all the places in camp and he couldn't help but notice how excited she looked. He couldn't help but wonder if this was how Sunkit use to be before losing Flamekit. They stopped just outside the elder's den.

"Now this is the elder's den. They are warriors who have retired and are cared for by the Clan." meowed Firepaw. Cloverkit sniffed curiously at the entrance of the entrance of the den. Firepaw purred.

"Would you like to meet them?" he asked Cloverkit and Spottedkit. They both nodded enthusiastically. Firepaw padded up to the entrance and called into it. Toadleg groaned loudly.

"What do you want now?" he growled causing Cloverkit to jump with a squeak and Spottedkit jumped behind Sunkit shaking. Firepaw growled padding into the elders den and moved till he was almost nose to nose with Toadleg before growling.

"I don't care what problems you may have with me, but I won't have you scaring kits." Toadleg looked at him with a slight look of confusion.

"What kits?"

"I brought Snowfall's kits here to see all of you." Firepaw growled looking angrily at Toadleg. Ivyclaw let her tail smooth over Firepaw's ears.

"Be fair Firepaw, Toadleg didn't know you had kits with you." she mewled softly. Toadleg almost looked smug at the moment before Ivyclaw rounded on him.

"And you have no business acting so threateningly to Firepaw." she hissed at Toadleg. She looked back at Firepaw and nodded toward the entrance.

"Go get those kits I'd love to see them." she meowed. Firepaw nodded before sticking his head out to look at the slightly frightened kits. He purred softly and licked Snowfall's kits between the ears comforting them.

"Come on in, it's alright they won't hurt you." He meowed softly nudging his nose against their soft fur and gently guiding them into the elder's den. Sunkit helped him murmuring encouraging words to the two kits. Cloverkit padded into the den with Spottedkit right behind her. They looked at the elders with surprise. Blackbird looked at the two young kits and gave a raspy purr.

"Welcome young ones. I am Blackbird, the oldest cat in SkyClan." He rasped. Coaxing the two kits forward with his tail. He nodded to Moonwatcher.

"Hello I'm Moonwatcher" he purred brushing his tail over their ears. He nudged them over to Ivyclaw who gave them both gentle licks between their ears.

"Hello kits, I am Ivyclaw, and this grumpy sack of bones is Toadleg" she meowed flicking her tail in Toadleg's direction. Who sniffed and rolled over. Firepaw shook his head at the warrior.

"I'm Cloverkit and this is Spottedkit." Cloverkit mewled nudging her sister.

"It's nice to meet you both." rasped Blackbird. Firepaw nudged the two kits.

"Come on you two it's getting close to dusk and I need to get you two and Sunkit back to the nursery." The kits bid the elder's farewell and Firepaw lead them back to the nursery.

Once he was finished he realized that he hadn't gotten a thing to eat since he woke up that morning. He went to the fresh-kill pile and pulled out a thrush and moved over to the apprentice den to eat his prey. Longpaw padded up to him giving him a playful nudge.

"Hey Firepaw" Firepaw swallowed his bite of prey before looking up at Longpaw.

"Hey Longpaw how was your patrol?" Longpaw snorted

"It would have been better if I hadn't had to listen to Lightningpaw boasting about how he was going to the gathering tonight." Firepaw stopped chewing on his piece of prey and looked up with shocked eyes at Longpaw.

"The gathering is tonight? Who else is going?" Longpaw purred in amusement.

"Well I know that Runningpaw and Dovepaw are going also, along with Ashstorm, Oaktalon, Finchflight, Silverwind, Mapletail, Stonetooth, Spiderfang, Icefeather, Fallowpelt and Thrushfur."

"Runningpaw and Dovepaw are going too?" Longpaw nodded.

"At least they will tell us about it and they won't brag about it." he sighed.

"Have you been to a gathering yet?" asked Firepaw, Longpaw shook his head.

"No, I haven't been training that long yet. In fact I only started my training a quarter of a moon before you came."

"I see, I wonder what they'll talk about." he wondered aloud.

"Probably you since your new to SkyClan and that other kittypet that was chased into ThunderClan territory I'm sure." Longpaw meowed. Firepaw nodded and continued eating his thrush. Just as he began to gather the feathers Goldenstar's voice rang out to call all the cats who were going to the gathering. Dovepaw and Runningpaw emerged from the apprentice den. Dovepaw brushed her pelt against Firepaw's briefly.

"We'll tell you all about it tomorrow have a good rest." she meowed softly as she and Runningpaw approached the group of cats by the entrance. Goldenstar lifted her tail and the cats left camp in single file. Longpaw grumbled a bit about wishing he could go before yawning and heading into the den. Firepaw looked up at the moon briefly before turning and entering the apprentice den to sleep.

Firepaw was awakened by Dovepaw nudging his side with her paw. Vibrant green eyes met dark pools of blue.

"Oh hi Dovepaw how was the gathering." Dovepaw sighed softly

"There was a lot of news this time." Firepaw yawned widely tilting his head slightly in question.

"What kind of news? And what did Goldenstar say about me?" he meowed curiously

"Well she did mention you as a new apprentice along with Snowfall's and Squirrelfur's new kits, but the big news came from ThunderClan and RiverClan. You remember that kittypet I told you about? Well apparently it's training to be a ThunderClan apprentice now." Firepaw's eyes widened in shock.

"He is? wow maybe we'll see him at gathering's"

"Yeah maybe" Firepaw looked closely at Dovepaw

"Was there something else?" he asked softly

"Yes, ThunderClan's Deputy, Redtail, and RiverClan's deputy, Oakheart were killed."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Firepaw stared at Dovepaw in disbelief.

"Redtail is dead?" he asked. She gave him a sad nod. "How did it happen?"

"It happened during a battle they had with RiverClan a day ago. Oakheart, RiverClan's, deputy died as well." she meowed. Firepaw froze. 'A day ago? In a battle with RiverClan?' Firepaw's thoughts went to the other day when he saw Stonetooth drying his fur close to the ThunderClan-RiverClan border. 'Did he see the battle? Or maybe he heard something?' Firepaw once again was curious why Stonetooth's pelt had been wet that day and why he had been near the merged border. He was shaken from his thoughts by Dovepaw who was watching him with concerned eyes.

"Are you okay?" Firepaw nodded

"Yes I'm fine it's just a shock to hear that Redtail is dead, I saw him on a patrol with Goldenstar a few days ago." Dovepaw was surprised.

"Really? I didn't know you had met him." Firepaw nodded.

"You said the RiverClan deputy died in the same battle?" he asked curiously.

"Yes he did, it's a shame really Oakheart was a great warrior, it was a hard blow to RiverClan." she meowed softly.

"Will Goldenstar hold a meeting about what happened in the gathering?"

"Yeah she probably will, it's important to know who's leading the Clan's and who will be replacing a leader." she meowed. "We should get some rest we have our apprentice duties tomorrow. Firepaw nodded and curled up in nest thinking about the fallen ThunderClan deputy, before sleep overtook him.

Firepaw was crouched behind a bush waiting patiently for the right moment to pounce on a magpie that was pecking at seeds that were on the ground. Firepaw flexed his hind legs before spring onto the back of the bird and delivering a swift bite to the neck. He picked it up and began to head back to camp. It had been two moons since he had joined SkyClan. He still wasn't quite ready to actually hunt in trees but, he fully mastered the Sky Drop, as well as many other battle moves.

When he arrived at camp he placed the magpie into the fresh-kill pile, along with some other prey he had caught earlier in the day. He made his way back toward the entrance when a brisk meow stopped him.

"Hey Firepaw, wait up." meowed Dovepaw. Firepaw waved his tail in greeting waiting for her to catch up to him.

"Hi Dovepaw, what are you doing?"

"I was going to go hunt, did you want to come with me?" she asked. Firepaw nodded and Dovepaw purred happily before leading through the tunnel and out of camp. She began to head toward the Thunderpath, with Firepaw right behind her. They padded along until Dovepaw caught the scent of a thrush and began to lead Firepaw toward the unsuspecting bird. Firepaw was following closely behind her, when an strange yet familiar scent caught his nose. He froze and took in the scent trying to figure out where it was coming from and where he had smelt it before. His fur stood on end when he realized it was ShadowClan scent; he rushed over to Dovepaw, who had just finished catching the thrush.

"Dovepaw, do you smell that?" he asked her urgently. Dovepaw looked curiously at him before putting down her thrush to take in the air around them. She too stiffened.

"That smells like ShadowClan, what are they doing in our territory?" she meowed and looked around cautiously almost as if she expected to a ShadowClan patrol to leap out and ambush them.

"Let's follow the scent." Firepaw meowed catching Dovepaw's attention. Dovepaw shook her head.

"I don't think so, we should report this to Goldenstar." she meowed starting to head back to Camp when Firepaw stopped her.

"But, shouldn't we at least find out what they were doing here?" he asked. Dovepaw sighed before turning to look at Firepaw.

"No we shouldn't, you haven't been in the forest long enough and you haven't met any ShadowClan cats so you don't know just how dangerous they can be and we don't know how many warrior's there are, we could be walking straight into an ambush." she meowed. Firepaw fur began to rise in anger when Dovepaw had mentioned his kittypet roots but, after careful thought he realized that she was probably right, but that didn't mean he was happy about it.

"Fine" he grumbled snatching up the thrush before shoving passed Dovepaw, racing back to camp. Dovepaw looked shocked and slightly hurt before following after Firepaw. Firepaw ignored Dovepaw all the way to the camp. The two entered camp in silence, Dovepaw raced off to tell Goldenstar what they had found and Firepaw went to put the thrush in the fresh-kill pile. Longpaw was just coming out of the Elder's den with a grimace on his face. He spotted Firepaw and ran over to speak to him.

"Hey Firepaw, what's up?" Longpaw asked noticing his friend's annoyance. Firepaw told about the ShadowClan scent and about how he thought that they should at least figure out why they were there and what Dovepaw had said to him.

"I feel the same way you do, I probably would have wanted to follow the scent also, but Dovepaw was right, that's the warriors' jobs. We shouldn't do anything like that unless we are with a warrior. Besides Dovepaw, Runningpaw and I hate to admit it but Lightningpaw each have had more training than either of us. I don't think we would stand a chance against an experienced warrior. To be honest I think Dovepaw was worried for your safety since you lack a lot of training and I don't think she meant to insult you." Firepaw sighed

"You're probably right, sometimes I just get caught up on trying to prove that I have what it takes to someday be a warrior that I jump to conclusions every time someone brings up my kittypet roots." Longpaw touched Firepaw's shoulder with his tail gently.

"Hey Dovepaw's a pretty sweet and gentle cat, just apologize to her, she should forgive you." meowed Longpaw.

"Yeah I'll try and talk to her after she gets done with Goldenstar. I just hope she'll forgive me." Firepaw meowed

"Well she does like you it should work. " Longpaw muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Firepaw meowed looking at Longpaw.

"Nothing let's just go." Longpaw meowed padding toward Goldenstar's den. Goldenstar sat outside her den looking serious. Smokecloud sat beside Dovepaw murmuring to something to Goldenstar. Goldenstar motioned Firepaw over looking back and forth between him and Dovepaw.

"Tell me Firepaw, what you found?" she asked. Firepaw quickly explained that he and Dovepaw had gone hunting not too far from the Thunderpath and the creek and how he smelt ShadowClan scent not far from where they were. Goldenstar nodded and told Smokecloud to get Blackflower and Hawkwing. Firepaw remembered Longpaw telling him that they were two of the best trackers in SkyClan. Goldenstar moved to speak with Ashstorm, who had just come in from leading his patrol. Firepaw looked over at Dovepaw who glanced hurtfully at him before moving to follow Smokecloud. Firepaw quickly blocked her path.

"I'm sorry for acting the way I did Dovepaw, I was just frustrated because you brought up my kittypet roots, and it made me think that you thought I was mouse-brained." Dovepaw looked at him a moment before purring and brushing her tail over his ears.

"But, you ARE mouse-brained Firepaw." she purred teasingly "and because you are mouse-brained, I will accept your apology." Longpaw watched the two with an amused satisfaction. Firepaw open his mouth to retort to Dovepaw that he wasn't mouse-brained at all, when Goldenstar called for the both of them. They bounded over to Goldenstar with Longpaw following close behind. When they reached Goldenstar she looked directly at them with Blackflower and Hawkwing standing beside her.

"Dovepaw, Firepaw I want you two to show Blackflower and Hawkwing where you scented ShadowClan. If ShadowClan has invaded our territory I'll need one of you to come back to alert us." she meowed calmly she let her eyes meet each of them as she spoke her next words. "You are not to confront them unless you have no other option. Is that understood?"

"Yes Goldenstar." meowed the patrol. She nodded and sent them off. Dovepaw and Firepaw lead the way through the forest as quickly as possible until they reached the spot where they and smelt ShadowClan. The scent wasn't as strong now as it had been, but they were still able to tell which way the scent had gone.

"I got the scent trail, stay close and keep an eye out for any cats that might be hidden." meowed Hawkwing as he lead the group in the direction of the creek. They followed Hawkwing as he led them to through their territory keeping a look out for any ShadowClan cats. When they reached the creek the scent became harder to follow and Hawkwing lost the scent when he reached the bank of the creek. Blackflower crossed the creek and was able to pick up the scent once again. She led the patrol until they reached the border with ThunderClan.

"I suppose we should tell Goldenstar that ShadowClan went into ThunderClan territory." Blackflower meowed. Hawkwing nodded and began to lead the patrol back toward the camp.

"Why were they here?" asked Firepaw.

"Good question, I didn't see any signs of them hunting here and I didn't smell any scenting marks." meowed Hawkwing.

"It is very unusual, usually when ShadowClan has been in our territory they make their intentions clear." Blackflower meowed.

"What's even stranger is that it only seemed to be one cat rather than a patrol." Hawkwing added. Firepaw continued to contemplate all of this information as he padded back to camp. 'Why would a ShadowClan cat come alone into our territory, if they weren't trying to steal our food?'

Firepaw made a swift leap over the creek and landed perfectly on the other side. Longpaw came to stand beside him as they waited for the other cats to cross the creek. It was the night of the gathering and five sunrises since they had scented the ShadowClan cat in their territory. Goldenstar had increased the patrols, but nothing had been happening at their borders and there hadn't been any sign of the ShadowClan intruder.

Once all the cats had crossed the creek, Goldenstar lead them to the merged border with RiverClan and ThunderClan. When they reached the border they walked along the border, passing through Sunning Rocks, they continued to move along the bordered. They padded pass the Owl Tree and they padded up the slope where four great oak trees stood proudly ahead of them. Firepaw heard Longpaw murmur 'Thank StarClan' under his breath and couldn't help but think the same thing. He was more than grateful that Fallowpelt had given them traveling herbs for their journey to the gathering. When they reached the top of the slope, Firepaw and Longpaw stared down amazed at the cats that were already present.

"Wow, look at all of them. "meowed Longpaw. Firepaw just nodded in amazement. He still couldn't believe that he and Longpaw were the only apprentices chosen to go to the gathering. He turned to look at Goldenstar who was crouched watching the cats down below as Ashstorm murmured in her ear about something. Firepaw peered around at the other cats present in their group. Hawkwing, Sootpelt, and Blackflower were talking to each other. Finchflight and Snowfall seemed to be discussing Snowfall's kits. Grayfeather and Icefeather were waiting patiently for Goldenstar to lead them down the slope. Fallowpelt was speaking reassuringly to Ivyclaw telling her not to worry and was also patiently waiting for them to make their entrance to the gathering. Firepaw was still surprised to see the female elder outside of the camp, he didn't think she would have been able to handle the distance, but it didn't seem to faze the elder at all. The last cat present for the gathering was looking at him with cold amber eyes, causing Firepaw to involuntarily shiver. Stonetooth looked almost impatient for Goldenstar to lead them down to the gathering. As if she heard his thoughts, Goldenstar turned to face her clan.

"I don't want anyone to mention anything about finding ShadowClan scent in our territory yet, if anyone is going to bring it up it'll be me understood?" she meowed giving a hard stare at everyone present, she let her gaze linger on Firepaw and Longpaw. Every cat nodded their head in understanding. Goldenstar turned back to the slope and raised her tail in signal for them to follow her as she charged down the slope. When they reached the bottom, Firepaw began to smell the familiar scents of RiverClan and ShadowClan.

"ThunderClan and WindClan aren't here yet." meowed Longpaw as he glanced around. Firepaw nodded and looked around the clearing.

"Who do you think we should talk to?" Firepaw asked as he looked at the warriors who were present.

"We should probably steer clear of ShadowClan for now since we don't have any idea about why they were in our territory since we may be at war with them over this." meowed Longpaw.

"And if a battle is to be fought over this you must know your enemies and be able to recognize them." meowed Finchflight who had snuck up behind the two of them. "It is fine for you to talk to any cat as long as you don't say anything about ShadowClan being in our territory. I'd suggest speaking to the apprentices since this is the first gathering for the both of you."

"But, what if a warrior tries to talk to us?" Longpaw asked with a confused expression.

"Then act respectful and talk just don't say anything that might make us look venerable to the other Clans." Both Firepaw and Longpaw gave him a nod after soaking up the information that Finchflight had given them. They padded over to a group of apprentices who were all discussing the first piece of prey they caught as an apprentice.

"I caught trout when I first went fishing" meowed a light gray tom with a fluffy tail. Beside him a mottled light gray tom was sitting and on the other side the light gray tom was a brown tabby tom long thick tail. Firepaw could tell that they were from RiverClan. There were two ShadowClan apprentices sitting with them, a very small brown tabby tom and white and gray tabby she-cat. Firepaw looked closely at the brown tabby and thought he looked a bit young to be at a meeting. He was tempted to ask the young apprentice how old he was and whether he should be at a gathering, when he felt Longpaw nudge him slightly.

"Hey look ThunderClan is here" meowed Longpaw as he pointed his tail toward the cats coming into the clearing. Firepaw's eyes widen when he spotted some familiar pelts from ThunderClan. He recognized the golden pelt of Lionheart as well as the gray apprentice that he had seen on one of his patrols with Goldenstar, but the most familiar pelt, a black and white pelt, was heading straight for him and the cat who wore the pelt had the same look of shock on his face.

"Rusty is that you?" spoke the black and white apprentice.

"Smudge you're in ThunderClan?"

(I was tempted to leave it here but thought of a better place to put it.)

Longpaw looked between the pair before settling his eyes on Firepaw. Firepaw looked at Longpaw.

"Longpaw would it be okay if I talk to him alone for a moment?" he asked.

"Sure I'll talk to these apprentices okay?" Firepaw nodded as Longpaw made himself comfortable among the RiverClan and ShadowClan apprentices. Firepaw watched as Smudge nodded his head in the direction of a more secluded area to speak with Firepaw. Firepaw asked his question again. Smudge answered

"Yes I am, I was so worried about you, I came to see how you were doing in the forest and against my better judgment I went to find you, but I got lost in the forest and not long after that this cat comes out of nowhere and started chasing me. He chased me clear over the ThunderClan border where Bluestar, my leader, and Whitestorm, one of ThunderClan's warriors, found me, they were kind enough to let me join ThunderClan though I wasn't exactly as welcomed." Firepaw nodded

"So it was you that Lightningpaw chased over the border." meowed Firepaw. Smudge stared wide eyed.

"You know that cat?"

"Yes he is one of SkyClan's apprentices as am I, my name is Firepaw now." He meowed. Smudge blinked surprised.

"He's an apprentice? From the way he was acting I would have thought he was a rogue. I'm surprised your in the same Clan as him, oh and my name is now Scorchpaw" he meowed. Firepaw purred happily.

"Yeah well he wasn't exactly nice to me when I joined either. I'm just glad I have Longpaw, Runningpaw and Dovepaw to help me get through training." Scorchpaw nodded.

"I understand fully sometimes I wonder what I'd do without Graypaw and Ravenpaw." he meowed. Firepaw looked at him curiously.

"Graypaw is he that gray apprentice that was talking to Lionheart?" Scorchpaw stared at him surprised

"Yes but, how do you know Lionheart?"

"I saw him on a patrol with my mentor Goldenstar." Firepaw explained. "I'm sorry to hear about Redtail though, that must have been a blow to your Clan." Scorchpaw shrugged.

"I personally didn't get a chance to know him that well, he died the day I joined the ThunderClan." Firepaw nodded in understanding.

"In a battle with RiverClan right?"

"Yeah, that's right. Tigerclaw, one of our warriors, told us that he got vengeance for Redtail by killing the RiverClan deputy, Oakheart." meowed Scorchpaw. Firepaw blinked slowly, surprised by the information that Scorchpaw had shared with him.

"Uh, do you really think its okay to be telling me all of this Scorchpaw?" asked Firepaw squirming a little uncomfortably. Scorchpaw looked confused.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean we aren't in the same Clan, don't you think that this would be something that you would want to keep to yourself?" Scorchpaw nodded his head in understanding.

"I understand, but we're friends aren't we? You won't tell anyone about what I said will you?"

"No, I won't, it will stay between us." meowed Firepaw. Scorchpaw purred happily. Firepaw briefly touched noses with Scorchpaw before thinking about what he said about the day Redtail died. Scorchpaw nudged him in the direction that Graypaw went.

"Come on I'll introduce you to Graypaw, he's a great cat." meowed Scorchpaw leading Firepaw away from their spot. Firepaw followed closely behind him, taking in the other cats that were exchanging greetings. Firepaw saw Stonetooth talking to a large dark brown tabby tom with unusually long claws. He shivered slightly at the sight of them.

' I'd hate to have to face him in battle.' he thought briefly. Scorchpaw stopped and glanced over in the direction that Firepaw was looking.

"Oh there's Tigerclaw, talking to that gray tom over there." Firepaw's eyes widened.

"That's Tigerclaw? Wow he looks intimidating. The gray tom that he's talking to is Stonetooth, he's a Skyclan warrior."

"Really? Well he's pretty intimidating himself." Scorchpaw commented. Firepaw nodded his head in agreement. Suddenly a sweet smelling scent reached Firepaw's nose. Before he could discover it's source, a soft voice spoke up from behind them.

"Hello Scorchpaw, whose your friend?" meowed a beautiful tortoiseshell she-cat. Firepaw felt his fur warm up slightly as he took in the sight of the she-cat. He stared almost entranced by her beautiful amber eyes as he took in her sweet scent. Scorchpaw glanced amusingly at Firepaw before turning back to answer the beautiful she-cat.

"Hello Spottedleaf, this is Firepaw, he's a SkyClan apprentice." Scorchpaw turn to face Firepaw. "Spottedleaf is ThunderClan's medicine cat." Spottedleaf turned to looked at Firepaw before purring softly.

"It's nice to meet you Firepaw, is this your first gathering?" Firepaw wordlessly nodded. "I thought it might be, you're the new apprentice from the twolegplace right?" Firepaw shifted on his paws a little in embarrassment.

"Yes I am," he mumble a little. Spottedleaf touched her tail to his shoulder softly.

"It must have been hard for you to adjust to clan life, but I can tell your turning into a fine warrior." Spottedleaf purred gently. Firepaw almost puffed out his chest in pride.

'Thank you Spottedleaf." Firepaw meowed as he leaned down to lick his chest to fight off his embarrassment. Scorchpaw continued to watch the exchange with a look of amusement, before nudging Firepaw to get his attention.

"Come on Firepaw, let's go find the other apprentices." meowed Scorchpaw. Firepaw opened his mouth to protest, when Fallowpelt called out to Spottedleaf.

"Oh excuse me, I wanted to ask Fallowpelt about her supply of herbs." meowed Spottedleaf as she waved her tail in greeting to Fallowpelt. "It was nice meeting you Firepaw."

"It was nice meeting you too Spottedleaf." meowed Firepaw trying not to sound sad that she was leaving .Spottedleaf waved her tail in farewell as she padded off to talk to the SkyClan medicine cat. Firepaw watched her go with a little regret. Scorchpaw touched his shoulder to catch his attention.

"Come on lets go before the leader's decided to start the meeting." Firepaw nodded reluctantly as he followed Scorchpaw over to a small group of cats. Among them was a familiar gray pelt. Scorchpaw padded over to sit next to the gray cat before motioning with his tail for Firepaw to come over.

"Graypaw, this is Firepaw he's my friend from when I was a kittypet." meowed Scorchpaw. Graypaw waved his tail in a friendly greeting.

"Hi, I remember you, you were on a patrol with your leader right?" Graypaw asked.

"Yeah, your patrol was lead by Redtail and you and Lionheart were their with that gray she-cat." Graypaw nodded

"Yep, He's our new deputy." Graypaw meowed with a his chest puffed out proudly. Scorchpaw nudged his friend.

"Yes we all know how great Lionheart is Graypaw, you don't need to keep reminding everyone. Come on lets go find Ravenpaw." he meowed padding off with Graypaw falling in step behind him. Firepaw was half tempted to see where Spottedleaf had gone but, he really wanted to meet Scorchpaw's other friends in ThunderClan. So he quickly caught up to Scorchpaw and found him sitting with some apprentices. He came to sit beside him and saw him watching a skinny black tom with a white chest and tail tip talking among the group of apprentices. He seemed to be telling a story. He also saw Longpaw sitting with the group. Scorchpaw pointed his tail in the direction of the cat telling the story.

"That's Ravenpaw, he's the one telling the story. He can be a bit skittish at times, but he's a nice cat." meowed Scorchpaw. "It's about the battle we lost Redtail in." Firepaw looked surprised but settled down to hear the story.

"..I had just finished fighting off a huge RiverClan warrior when I heard a scream. It was Oakheart. He had tumbled down a slope and rocks had fallen down after him. A huge gray cat raced down the slope to help him, but it must have been too late because the cat's paws were covered in blood and Oakheart didn't come back up the slope." Firepaw froze for a moment.

"Where did that cat go?" One of the apprentices meowed. Ravenpaw shrugged a little

"I don't know, he must have swum back over to RiverClan territory. He ran in the direction of the SkyClan border, but he must have been confused." Firepaw thought back to the day he saw Stonetooth with his pelt wet and his paws covered in what he thought was mud. 'Could that have been blood on his paws? Oakheart's blood? And if so why was he there in the first place?' Firepaw thought. Why he was pondering his thoughts he saw the dark tabby pelt of Tigerclaw out of the corner of his eyes. He saw that the dark warrior had an angry look on his face as he looked at Ravenpaw. 'Why would he look at his own Clanmate so fiercely?' thought Firepaw as he watched the dark tabby. Then Firepaw remembered what Scorchpaw had said about Tigerclaw being the one to get vengence for Redtail after Oakheart killed him. 'But Ravenpaw just said that Oakheart died before Redtail.' Was Ravenpaw mistaken? He was about to ask Scorchpaw when a yowl rang out from the Great Rock. He looked at the Great Rock and saw four leaders standing on the rock. He vaguely remembered Dovepaw telling him what the other leader's looked like. He saw a light-colored tabby with a crooked jaw and knew that it must have been the RiverClan leader Crookedstar. Standing closer to the shadows was a menacing looking, long-furred dark brown tabby tom. 'Wow he looks pretty vicious.' Firepaw thought as he looked at the tom and figured that it must be the ShadowClan leader Brokenstar. He saw the golden fur of Goldenstar standing beside a blue-gray she-cat with a silver muzzle. 'That must be Bluestar, the ThunderClan leader.' Firepaw looked over each cat as he sat beside Scorchpaw until a thought crossed his mind. 'Where is the WindClan leader?' as if one the cats had heard his thoughts one cried out.

"Where are the WindClan representatives?"

(Okay longest chapter I've done for this story. Sorry I haven't updated sooner but I was having some severe computer problems and had to get it repaired, but I have it back now and will try to update both of my stories sooner.)


	9. Chapter 9

Okay I know I haven't updated in a while, it was mostly because of computer problems and laziness, also I had ideas for my other story so I was focusing a bit more on **Warriors Blood and Loyalty**

Chapter 9

Firepaw glanced around and noticed that every cat seemed to be wondering why the gathering had begun when there were no WindClan representatives. Firepaw felt Longpaw's pelt brush against his own as he came to sit beside him. They watched as Bluestar, padded forward looking at the other cats gathered down below.

"Brokenstar wishes to speak now." She meowed before stepping back, allowing Brokenstar to take her place. The fierce looking tabby let his gaze travel over all his gaze travel over all the cats below before speaking.

"Cats of all Clans, ShadowClan has prospered well these last few moons and as a result we have grown too much for our territory and our needs are not being met." He paused to watch the faces of the cats below, before continuing. "With that said I as that every clan allow for us to hunt within their territory so that we may no longer suffer." Firepaw's jaw dropped in disbelief of what he had just heard. He looked around noticing that only ShadowClan cats were agreeing, while the other cats where yowling out protests. Brokenstar waited for silence before speaking once more.

"I simply ask that we be allowed to hunt in your territories, do you wish for our kits to starve? And for my clan to go hungry?" meowed Brokenstar darkly, as he let his gaze travel over the other cats.

"Why should we give up our territory for a bunch of pathetic cats who can't catch their own prey in their own territory?" growled a voice among the cats. Firepaw looked over and noticed that it was the dark tabby Tigerclaw, the warrior of Thunderclan, who had spoken. Cats from the other clans were meowing in agreement. Firepaw could make out the brown tabby pelt of Hawkwing and the black pelt of Blackflower. He thought he could hear Ivyclaw hissing foully at the dark leader.

"Who does he think he is?" hissed Graypaw, Scorchpaw nodded in agreement.

"The leader of all the Clans apparently" growled Longpaw. Brokenstar glared fiercely, as he waited for the cats to quiet down.

"I don't think that WindClan thought we were pathetic when we drove their Clan out of their territory." He hissed sharply. Firepaw looked at him in horror and noticed that Graypaw, Scorchpaw and other warriors did the same. He felt Scorchpaw shivering against him.

"I can't believe that they've driven WindClan out of their territory." Scorchpaw mewled. Firepaw turned his gaze back up the Great Rock and saw that the leaders looked surprised but didn't look as shocked as the other cats. Bluestar stepped forward and began to speak.

"If what you say is true then why do you need to hunt in our territories?" she meowed, turning her fierce blue gaze onto the dark leader.

"As I have said our Clan has grown too large and our territory is too small to sustain our growing Clan, I asked Tallstar to give up some of his territory and he refused so we took it from them, but unfortunately it still isn't enough to sustain my Clan, that is why I ask you to give up your territory for ShadowClan." Brokenstar meowed sharply, he glared coldly at the cats below. Crookedstar took a step forward to address the clans.

"Cats of all Clans I have agreed to let ShadowClan hunt in RiverClan territory, I feel that there is no need for such conflict." The RiverClan leader meowed. A roar of noise sprouted from the RiverClan warriors as they yowled their protest at their leader in anger. Firepaw blinked in shock, then looked up at Goldenstar, pleading to StarClan that she didn't surrender like Crookedstar. Brokenstar turned to look at the SkyClan and ThunderClan leaders.

"Well, Goldenstar, Bluestar what are your decisions?" he meowed darkly, narrowing his eyes. Goldenstar stared unblinkingly into Brokenstar's eyes.

"I need to speak with my Clan before I make such a decision that will affect them so greatly." Goldenstar meowed coldly.

"Nor will I, make such a decision without speaking to my Clan." Bluestar meowed curtly. Brokenstar's face showed his displeasure at being turned down.

"Very well I will get your answers by the next moon." He meowed darkly, he stepped forward once more to make one more announcement.

"There is one more thing, one of ShadowClan's cats has turned rogue, we have chased her out of our territory, but we do not know where she has gone, I would advise every Clan to keep a close eye on their kits." Firepaw turned sharply to face Longpaw.

"Longpaw, do you think that this rogue was the cat that was in our territory?" he whispered into his friend's ear. Longpaw nodded.

"Yeah it would make since right? You did say there had only been one scent present." He whispered back. Firepaw nodded he turned to look at Scorchpaw who was looking nervous.

"What's wrong Scorchpaw? You seem upset." He murmured to his friend. Scorchpaw looked uneasy but beckoned Firepaw over behind one of the large oak trees that made up Fourtrees. Once they were settled behind the tree and they were sure no one had seen them they began to talk.

"What's wrong?" Firepaw repeated softly.

"Not long ago, Graypaw and I were out hunting and we found ShadowClan's former medicine cat. She said that she had been banished. I fed her a little while Graypaw got some of the warriors. We've kept her as a prisoner for now, but what if she does something while we're not there?" Firepaw had not expected that.

"I'm sure it will be fine, think about what you're saying Scorchpaw, you didn't leave your camp unprotected did you?" Scorchpaw snorted.

"Of course we didn't, we would never leave the Clan unprotected."

"Exactly, do you really think she'd do anything while there were other warriors there?"

"I suppose your right, thanks Firepaw." The two returned to the clearing to see that every cat was starting to gather around their respective leaders to go back to camp.

"Well I guess we'll see each other at gatherings, okay? Firepaw meowed softly touching his tail against his friends shoulder. Scorchpaw nodded sadly.

"Yeah, I hope we can see each other at the next one." Scorchpaw mewled. Firepaw nodded gently and took off toward Goldenstar who was calling his clanmates together. As he bounded toward his leader, he noticed out of the corner of his eye, Ravenpaw cowering away from the dark tabby warrior, Tigerclaw. He stopped for a moment noticing the look of fear Ravenpaw was giving Tigerclaw, Firepaw thought it was strange that he was scared of his own clanmate, but he remembered Ravenpaw's earlier story. 'I wonder if that's why Ravenpaw is so scared, because of that story?' he thought momentarily, but didn't think about it for long, quickly caught up to his clanmates.

Once they had arrived back in camp Goldenstar called a meeting, jumping up to sit on the high branch. Other cats came crawling out of their nests to hear the news of the gathering. Firepaw came to sit in between Dovepaw and Longpaw.

"What happen?" whispered Dovepaw softly into Firepaw's ear.

"Brokenstar has asked every clan to allow ShadowClan to hunt in their territory." Dovepaw dropped her jaw in shock. Runningpaw, who had just approached, and overheard what was said, also wore a look of shock and surprise.

"What did Goldenstar say?" mewled Runningpaw. Firepaw started to speak when Sootpelt spoke up first.

"If you don't be quiet we won't know," he growled softly. The apprentices quieted do to hear their leader speak.

"Cats of SkyClan, we have just come to the knowledge of a serious threat to our Clan." She meowed loudly. "Brokenstar, ShadowClan's leader, has asked every Clan to allow for ShadowClan to hunt in their territory." The clearing filled with yowls of outrage from every cat present. Goldenstar raised her tail for silence.

"I haven't allowed for ShadowClan to hunt on our land, but that won't stop them from trying, I want extra patrols along the borders, any cat that leaves camp needs another cat with them. I want no cat alone," Murmurs of agreement rose from the cats sitting below. "Brokenstar also mentioned a rogue wandering around that was formerly from ShadowClan, this may or may not be the scent that was found by Dovepaw and Firepaw the other day, but we will keep our eyes open for her." Firepaw thought about what Scorchpaw had said at the gathering, about Thunderclan having taken the she-cat as a prisoner. 'Should I tell Goldenstar? No I can't betray Scorchpaw's trust and what would it matter, we're already increasing the patrols.' Firepaw reasoned that it wouldn't do much to harm to keep the information to himself for now.

As the meeting ended, Goldenstar leaped down from the High Branch and began to speak with Ashstorm, cats remained in the clearing to talk about what they had heard. Firepaw padded toward Goldenstar, with the intent of finding out what duties he would perform tomorrow. Just as he had reached Goldenstar, Fallowpelt had slipped over to her and began to speak.

"Goldenstar, my supply of chervil, is near empty I need it to fight infection for wounds, along with comfrey and golden rod, for mending bones and healing wounds. Spottedleaf has gratefully offered to share some of her supplies with me and she is in need of Dock and Coltsfoot, which we have plenty of, I was hoping I could borrow an apprentice to help me take some over to her in return for her giving me the herbs I need." She meowed softly. Goldenstar regarded for her for a moment.

"Very well, you may go there tomorrow and you can take Firepaw with you." meowed Goldenstar, Firepaw looked up at Goldenstar in surprise.

"Really Goldenstar?" Firepaw asked. Goldenstar nodded

"Was there something you needed Firepaw?" asked Goldenstar. He shook his head.

"No, I just wanted to know what we we're doing tomorrow." He meowed softly.

"I understand I want you to help Fallowpelt, you will listen to her closely, alright? When you return you can join your denmates in training" FIrepaw nodded gently. Goldenstar lead Ashstorm away to plan the patrols for the next day. Firepaw turned to Fallowpelt who wore an unreadable expression.

"Meet me at my den before dawn, we will then depart for ThunderClan territory." Fallowpelt mewled curtly; she then turned sharply to return to her nest. Firepaw blinked in surprise, he had a feeling that Fallowpelt was upset with him for some reason, but he couldn't fathom why. He shrugged it off as being tired and decided to head to his own nest knowing he was going to ThunderClan the next day. His pelt tingled with excitement with the thought of seeing Scorchpaw and the beautiful tortoiseshell he met at the gathering. He could almost smell her sweet scent, as he nodded off to sleep.

Firepaw stretched out of his nest, flexing his hind legs to feel the supple muscles. Longpaw awoke from his nest, watching Firepaw.

"Were you tired last night? We looked all over for you; and by the time we found you, you were already asleep." He meowed. Firepaw shrugged a little.

"I was tired, but Goldenstar told me to help Fallowpelt today, we're going to Thunderclan to exchange herbs with their medicine cat." Longpaw's jaw dropped in surprise.

"You get to go to another Clan's territory? That's cool, wish I was going" Longpaw sighed sounding almost depressed. Runningpaw purred softly, brushing her tail over Longpaw's ears.

"Well in the mean time we'll be at the training hollow." She purred. "Remember we'll be training together today after ShadowClan's threat." Fireheart became a little disheartened. He had forgotten that his denmates would all be training together today, and he would miss it. Dovepaw who had just woken up, stretched out of her nest, and nudged Firepaw gently.

"Don't worry, will be training for most of the day anyway so you'll probably meet us later." She mewled softly. Firepaw sighed softly padding out of the apprentice den. He crossed the clearing and padded toward Fallowpelt's den, the brown tabby she-cat sat staring at him with her tail tucked over her paws and her piercing emerald gaze locked on Firepaw as he approached her. She rose to her paws fixing Firepaw with a stern stare.

"Okay Firepaw, you carry the coltsfoot." She meowed pushing a bundle of the small yellow flowering plant to Firepaw's paws. "I'll carry the dock." Firepaw nodded picking up the coltsfoot gingerly and following Fallowpelt to the camp entrance. They stopped slowly as they approached the tunnel at the sight of Sootpelt and Stonetooth sitting there patiently, along with Icefeather who was guarding the camp. Icefeather gave the two a nod as they approached, while Sootpelt and Stonetooth rose to their paws.

"Fallowpelt, Goldenstar asked me and Stonetooth to escort you and Firepaw to the border." Sootpelt meowed. Fallowpelt nodded and followed the black and white tom through the tunnel. Firepaw slid into the tunnel behind the medicine cat with Stonetooth bringing up the rear. Icefeather bid them a safe trip, before going back to watching the entrance.

After emerging from the tunnel they padded down the hill, through the trees toward the border with ThunderClan. Firepaw could feel Stonetooth's eyes boring into his pelt as they walked, making him shiver slightly as they continued forward. They padded quietly through the trees fluffing their pelts out a little for warmth, due to the lack of sun.

As they reached the border the first rays of sun began emerge into the sky. Sootpelt and Stonetooth fell back as Fallowpelt and Firepaw crossed the border.

"We'll wait here for you both to return." Sootpelt meowed, as he sat down in a spot not far from the border. Fallowpelt turned to face the black and white warrior as she placed her bundle on the ground.

"That won't be necessary, we are visiting ThunderClan, they have as much to fear from ShadowClan as we do, and it is against the warrior code to harm a medicine cat." She replied softly. "Besides I'm sure the clan would probably benefit more from you two hunting or guarding our ShadowClan border." With that said she picked up the dock and pelted further into ThunderClan territory, with Firepaw on her tail.

Fallowpelt slowed to a stop after a few minutes and dropped her dock on the ground. Firepaw stopped and looked at her in confusion. Fallowpelt fixed him with a stern glare.

"Listen we are in hostile territory, so you shouldn't hunt or even let your guard down while we're here." She meowed sharply. "I don't want you wandering off while we're here and I want you to stay near me at all times. Is that understood?" Firepaw nodded his head. Fallowpelt pick up the dock once more and set off with a quick pace for the ThunderClan camp. Firepaw let his mind wander back to his earlier assumption that Fallowpelt was upset with him about something. He reasoned that the medicine cat had never been so cold to him before and he wondered what he had done to get this response from Fallowpelt.

Suddenly they heard rustling of bushes ahead of them, Firepaw froze staring straight ahead as he caught the scent of ThunderClan . Fallowpelt stopped and sat down waiting patiently for the cats to reach them.

"Let me talk, don't start anything with the other cats." She meowed through the dock she was carrying. As she finished speaking, the ThunderClan patrol pushed through the bushes. There were three in this patrol. Firepaw recognized the pale gray fur of Willowpelt, but didn't recognize the other two. The leader or the patrol was a large white tom, and another smaller pale ginger she-cat came to stand next to the white tom. Fallowpelt stepped forward placing bundle of dock on the ground.

"Greetings Whitestorm, I've here to exchange hers with Spottedleaf." She meowed calmly. The tom, Whitestorm, dipped his head in greeting to Fallowpelt.

"Greetings Fallowpelt, let us escort you to ThunderClan." He meowed. Fallowpelt nodded once more picking up her bundle and following Whitestorm as he led them to the camp. Firepaw padded next to Fallowpelt, with Willowpelt and the pale ginger apprentice padding behind them. 'Why do I suddenly feel like a prisoner?' he thought briefly.

They soon reached a ravine, and then climbed down the side of to reach the gorse tunnel which led into the ThunderClan camp. They moved quickly through the tunnel and entering a clearing. Firepaw glanced around in surprise to see so many cats in the clearing. 'It's just like SkyClan' he thought briefly. A familiar dark tabby pelt caught his eye, 'Tigerclaw', Firepaw noticed the dark warrior was talking to Bluestar. He also noticed just how anxious she looked. Whitestorm turned to face the pale ginger apprentice

"Sandpaw, go tell Bluestar we have guests." The ginger apprentice nodded before bounding of to Bluestar. Whitestorm turned to Willowpelt.

"We should gather the prey we caught." He meowed to the pale gray warrior. Willowpelt nodded and two bounded off through the gorse tunnel, leaving Firepaw and Fallowpelt alone in the clearing. Firepaw could feel many eyes scorching into his pelt as he sat patiently. He felt a chill go down his spine and turn to see an old she-cat, with gray ragged looking fur, staring unblinkingly at him. He was going to ask Fallowpelt who she was when he noticed Bluestar rising to her paws.

Firepaw watched as Bluestar got to her paws and padded over to him and Fallowpelt, after speaking to Sandpaw.

"Greetings Fallowpelt, I understand you're here to meet with Spottedleaf." She meowed. Fallowpelt placed down her bundle down and dipped her head to Bluestar.

"Greetings Bluestar, I hope we aren't intruding too much, Spottedleaf confided in me her lack of herbs and I within my own, we merely want to exchange herbs." Fallowpelt meowed briskly. Firepaw watched as Bluestar fixed her gaze on him.

"Is this your apprentice Fallowpelt?" Fallowpelt shook her head.

"No this is Goldenstar's apprentice; she let me borrow him to help me carry the herbs." Bluestar nodded in understanding.

"I see, shall I have a warrior escort you?"

"That won't be necessary, I will lead them to my den." A warm familiar voice meowed. Firepaw almost purred when he saw the familiar tortoiseshell pelt of Spottdleaf.

"Very well. I will leave them to you Spottedleaf." Bluestar meowed curtly. Firepaw shivered as the ThunderClan leader's eye met his own once more before turning and heading for her den. Spottedleaf beckoned them to follow her, with her tail, toward her clearng. Firepaw eagerly followed the beautiful tortoiseshell with Fallowpelt padding alongside him.

When they reached Spottedleaf's clearing, he noticed that the she-cat had bundles of herbs sitting outside her den. 'Those look like traveling herbs. Why do they need traveling herbs? Is someone going somewhere?" he thought briefly. He was tempted to ask Spottedleaf, but remembered what Fallowpelt had said about being in enemy territory and decided against it. Spottedleaf padded into her den entrance, Firepaw went to fallow her but was stopped by Fallowpelt.

"Wait out here, give me your coltsfoot." She meowed evenly. Firepaw blinked at her in confusion, and then placed his bundle on the ground, he watched Fallowpelt pick it up and pad quickly into Spottedleaf's den. Firepaw sat patiently outside the den waiting for the two medicine cats to emerge from the den the den. Suddenly a familiar voice called out to him.

"Hey Firepaw," Firepaw whipped around to see the familiar face of his friend Scorchpaw.

"Hi Scorchpaw, how are you?" asked Firepaw asked as Scorchpaw approached.

"I'm great, how are you? And what are you doing here?" he asked curiously.

"I'm helping Fallowpelt deliver some herbs to Spottedleaf." Scorchpaw looked at Firepaw with excitement.

"This is great I could show you around camp." Firepaw shook his head.

"No I probably shouldn't, I'm supposed to stay with close to Fallowpelt." Firepaw meowed gently. "But I we can talk a little if you like."Firepaw added quickly when he noticed how crestfallen Scorchpaw had become. Scorchpaw perked up a little.

"Yeah I probably wouldn't be able to show you all around the camp, since I'm supposed to leave with Graypaw, Ravenpaw, Tigerclaw and Bluestar for an important assignment." Firepaw looked at Scorchpaw in alarm.

"You're leaving ThunderClan?" he whispered. Scorchpaw nodded.

"Yeah, but only for a short time, Bluestar wants to visited something called a Moonstone." Firepaw thought about this a moment. He remembered Goldenstar once telling him that leaders go to the Moonstone to share tongues with StarClan in their dreams. Once more Firepaw felt a little uncomfortable knowing such important information.

"Can we not talk about that here Scorchpaw? I don't think I'm supposed to know this." Scorchpaw looked abashed and lowered his head.

"Yeah, sometimes I forget that we're not in the same Clan, we don't get to see each other outside of gatherings" Scorchpaw sighed. Then Scorchpaw seemed to be filled excitement. Firepaw looked at him curiously.

"What are thinking about?" Scorchpaw motioned for Firepaw to follow him over to the side of Spottedleaf's den.

"I was thinking that we could talk to each other more if we saw each other outside of gatherings." Firepaw looked confused.

"How? We already established that he can't hangout outside of gatherings."

"Yeah so if we sneak out of camp at night, and head for our clan's borders we can talk more and practice warrior moves." Scorchpaw meowed quietly. Firepaw looked at Scorchpaw in shock.

"I don't know Scorchpaw what if we get caught? I don't feel comfortable being in another clan's territory with their permission." Firepaw murmured.

"We won't get caught, everyone will be asleep but the guard right? So just find a way to sneak past the guard and meet me at the border, we don't have to cross our clan's borders, we'll just stay on our respective sides. We can compare hunting techniques and battle moves. What do you say Firepaw?" Firepaw thought for a moment. He did miss his friend, and he didn't see much harm in hanging out with his old friend.

"I suppose it couldn't hurt." Firepaw murmured to Scorchpaw.

"That's great, and just think the two of us will become strong and better warriors, it'll be like extra training." Scorchpaw meowed quietly. "Let's meet near that large birch tree on your side of the border. Tomorrow night." Firepaw nodded just as Fallowpelt and Spottedleaf exited Spottedleaf's den with chervil, golden rod, and comfrey. Spottedleaf placed the golden rod she was carrying at Firepaw's paws, then turned to Fallowpelt.

"I hope that's enough for you, please let me know if you need more." Spottedleaf meowed gently to Fallowpelt.

"The same to you Spottedleaf take care, and may StarClan light your path." Fallowpelt mewled through the chervil and comfrey in her jaws, before beckoning Firepaw to follow her. Firepaw meowed a quick goodbye to Scorchpaw and Spottedleaf before bounding after Fallowpelt. As he followed he felt a cold shiver run down his spine and turned to see two large orange eyes staring unblinking at him from the ragged furred she-cat who had been watching him earlier. It made him quicken his pace out the camp entrance.

Falowpelt kept a brisk pace through ThunderClan territory heading for the SkyClan border. Fallowpelt slowed her pace as they grew closer to SkyClan's border. She slowed her pace to a stop and turned her piercing gaze at Firepaw.

"Beware of your choices Firepaw." She meowed lowly. Without waiting for an answer she dashed off for the border once more. Firepaw stared after her in shock, confusion and a little fear. 'Does she know I plan to meet Scorchpaw? No she couldn't have we were quiet and we had moved away from the entrance of Spottedleaf's den. Maybe it's because I'm friends with Scorchpaw maybe she thinks I'll betray SkyClan's secrets' Firepaw thought angrily. 'I'll show her I'll become a strong warrior, one of the best SkyClan has ever seen. Scorchpaw's right the extra training wouldn't hurt.' He thought to himself before picking up his pace to catch up with Fallowpelt, putting on a burst of speed to overtake the medicine cat.

When they reached the SkyClan border they saw Stonetooth and Sootpelt still waiting for them but saw that they were in a confrontation with three ThunderClan cats. There was a young warrior with a pale tabby coat and a long tail, the other warrior was a gray tom with dark tabby stripes and the third was a brown tabby tom who looked like he might be a little older than Firepaw.

"What's going on here?" Fallowpelt meowed around there herbs as she padded toward them. The three warriors whipped around to growl at Fallowpelt and Firepaw, who felt his fur along his spine raise and his claws start to become unsheathed.

"What are you doing in our territory?" hissed the brown tabby. Fallowpelt ignored the brown tom to stare at the dark striped tabby. The tom stepped forward to address her.

"Why are you in our territory Fallowpelt?" asked the tabby evenly.

"I'm a medicine cat Darkstripe, and I'm carrying herbs surely even you know why I'm here." She meowed briskly. "I had gone to your camp to exchange herbs, and now that I have, I'm going home. Stonetooth and Sootpelt were sent to wait for Firepaw and myself to return."

"So he's your apprentice?" hissed the pale tabby with the long tail, using said tail to point at Firepaw.

"No Longtail, he was merely sent to help me, now if you would kindly move aside so that we may return to camp." The three ThunderClan toms glared fiercely at her, making Firepaw believe that they might leap at her and try to fight her, but to his surprise they moved out of the way to let Fallowpelt and him through. As they walked past the hostile cats, he had to force his fur to remain flat and keep his claw's sheathed. Once they were on their side of the border, Firepaw turned to look at the other ThunderClan cats. The three ThunderClan cats sat in a line, watching them head back to camp. 'You would think they just caught us stealing prey' Firepaw snorted in his head. He pounded after his Clanmates happy to get away from the hostile stares of the ThunderClan cats.

Firepaw had never been happier to see the entrance to SkyClan's camp before, he looked up at the sky and realized quickly that it wasn't long after sunhigh. 'I can still make the practice.' Firepaw purred happily, as he slid through the tunnel. Once he had reached the other side he was glad to see the familiar faces of his Clan mates but was more disappointed to see that all the apprentices were sitting outside their den chatting excitedly. He started toward them but quickly remembered that he was carrying the Fallowpelt's golden rod and quickly bolted over to Fallowpelt's clearing placing his bundle of golden rod in the entrance of the den, before racing over to his denmates.

"Hey Firepaw, it's great that your back, looks like it's going to be you and me for a while." Longpaw meowed as he saw FIrepaw approach. Firepaw blinked in confusion.

"What do you mean? What's going on?" Runningpaw looked at Firepaw with excitement.

"Dovepaw, Lightningpaw and I are having a warrior ceremony today." Firepaw's eyes widened in shock.

"But I thought your warrior assessment wasn't for another moon?"

"It was, but while we were training, Goldenstar wanted to the four of us to have a hunting assessment. So she put us in teams, Runningpaw and I was in one team and Lightningpaw and Longpaw on the other and they told us we could choose where we wanted to hunt. We had just separated from each other, when Runningpaw and I were attacked by a group of weasels. Luckily Lightningpaw and Longpaw were close by to help us fight them off till our mentor's found us." Dovepaw meowed softly.

"Yeah Lightningpaw had to pull this large one off of Dovepaw," meowed Longpaw excitedly, his eyes getting a faraway look in them as if reliving the fight. Dovepaw thanked Lightningpaw, who seemed to puff up a little. Firepaw then noticed for the first time his denmates' pelts were littered in scratches and bite marks.

"Are you ok?" Firepaw asked Dovepaw looking at her in concern.

"Of course she's fine, thanks to me." Lightningpaw growled. Firepaw glared angrily at Lightningpaw.

"I wasn't asking you Lightningpaw." He hissed

"Well maybe if you weren't picking flowers with Fallowpelt all morning you'd know how she was." Lightningpaw snarled back. Firepaw flung himself at the pale ginger tom only to have a flash of gold break them apart.

"That is quite enough, what has gotten in to you Firepaw?" Goldenstar fixed him with a stern glare forcing Firepaw to look at his paws in shame.

"I'm sorry Goldenstar."

"That doesn't excuse your behavior; I think some time with the elder's will help improve your judgement." Goldenstar whipped around to fix Lightningpaw with a glare.

"And as for you, I starting to think you're not ready to be a warrior." Lightningpaw's eyes widened in horror. "However since you didn't fight back, I suppose you have enough judgement." Lightningpaw relaxed afterward looking a little smug.

"But you will be helping Fallowpelt for the next few days since you feel that all Fallowpelt does is 'pick flowers.'" Goldenstar meowed sharply. "Now the four of you go get your wounds looked at by Fallowpelt." she finished looking at Lightningpaw and turning to glance at Longpaw, Dovepaw and Runningpaw. The four apprentices raced off to Fallowpelt's den. Goldenstar turned her glare back on Firepaw.

"I want you to go check on the elder's now." Goldenstar meowed curtly. Firepaw his head bowed in shame heading for the elder's den.

"I'm disappointed in you Firepaw." She meowed softly. Firepaw flinched a little after hearing what his mentor had told him. He padded into the elder's den.

"I Goldenstar, leader of SkyClan call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn."  
"Lightningpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and defend this clan, even at the cost of your life?"  
" I do " Lightningpaw meowed with his chest puffed out. Firepaw snorted in disgusted from his spot in the back of the clan meeting.  
" Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior name. Lightningpaw, from now on, you will be known as Lightningstrike. SkyClan welcomes you as a full warrior." Meowed Goldenstar as she pressed her muzzle to his head and Lightningstrike lick her shoulder.

"Dovefeather, Runningstream, Lightningstrike."

"Doverfeather, Runningstream, Lightningstrike." Yowled the clan in excitement. Firepaw cheered for Dovefeather and Runningstream but couldn't bring himself to chant for Lightningstrike. Longpaw nudged him a little.

"Cheer up, that'll be us soon enough." He meowed in his ear. Firepaw nodded and got up to congratulate Dovefeather and Runningstream.

"Congradulations Dovefeather and Runningstream." Firepaw and Longpaw meowed together. Runningstream thanked them both while, Dovefeather thanked Longpaw softly but gave Firepaw a curt 'thanks' before turning her attention to Smokecloud. Firepaw feeling hurt by Dovepaw's cold reaction to him, headed toward the apprentice den with since of loneliness. 'That's it I'm defiantly going to see Scorchpaw tomorrow night, will become strong and capable warriors together.'

Okay once again sorry I haven't updated in a while but I've been focusing on a other things and **WBaL** but I'm going to try and update this story soon.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Firepaw, awoke from his nest, stretched his body out and padded out of the apprentice den. There was a lot more room in the den now that Runningstream, Dovefeather and Lightningstrike had moved out. 'They should be finished with their vigil now.' He thought briefly. He glanced back at Longpaw who was still sleeping peacefully in his nest. Firepaw glanced at the entrance and noticed that there was some light outside. 'I should probably wake him up so that he can be on time for his training' Firepaw thought a little bitterly. He sighed again and padded over to Longpaw gently prodding his side.

"Wake up Longpaw its time for training." He hissed sharply. Longpaw yawned widely and stretched out of his nest and began to lick his paws and washing his face. He gave another yawn and start to pad toward out of the apprentice den. Firepaw followed him out of the den and glanced over toward the center of the clearing, he noticed that the newly named warriors weren't anywhere to be seen. He figured that one of the other warriors had relieved them from their vigil. Firepaw sighed as he glanced over at the elder's den figuring he might as well get the elder's their prey for the morning. Longpaw touched his tail gently to Firepaw's shoulder.

"Don't worry Firepaw, you'll be training again soon, I'm sure." Longpaw mewled comfortingly. "I have to go now Finchflight is taking me hunting." Firepaw meowed a quick goodbye to his friend, then headed for the fresh-kill pile to bring the elder's their fresh-kill. He pulled out a sparrow, a wren, a bat and a chaffinch from the fresh-kill pile and padded toward the elder's den. As he entered he could hear Ivyclaw and Toadleg bickering at each other with Moonwatcher trying to end their quarrelling. Blackbird was the only one to greet him as he came through the entrance.

"Hello Firepaw, is that prey for us?" he rasped softly. Firepaw nodded and padded toward the oldest elder placing the prey in from of him. Blackbird looked at the selection and picked up the bat and began to bite into the fresh-kill. As Firepaw turned to the other elders in the den he saw that Ivyclaw and Toadleg had calmed down and were glaring at each other in their nests. Firepaw came over to Moonwatcher who was watching the other two elders in exasperation. Firepaw put the rest of the prey he brought I front of Moonwatcher and watched as the old tom pulled out the wren. He thanked Firepaw then began to pluck the feathers from his piece of fresh-kill. Firepaw then padded over to the two feuding elders, and he briefly wondered what the two were bickering about now. As he approached Ivyclaw purred at him softly at him. Toadleg snorted and fixed Firepaw with a glare. He placed the last two pieces of prey he had bought in front of the two elders. Toadleg quickly snatched up the sparrow and tore into it. Ivyclaw sniffed in disgust at Toadleg and calmly grabbed the chaffinch and began to pull feathers off it.

"Does anyone need their bedding changed?" Firepaw asked softly.

"No they're fine for now, but could you check my shoulder for ticks?" asked Blackbird looking up from his fresh-kill." Firepaw nodded and looked to the other elders.

"Does anyone else have ticks?" asked Firepaw 'hoping that he wouldn't have mouse bile on him long.

"Yes I have on you can get off the center of my back." Ivyclaw meowed looking up from her chaffinch. Moonwatcher shook his head and Toadleg remained silent. Firepaw fought hard not to growl at Toadleg and waited patiently for the old tom to say anything. Ivyclaw swatted Toadleg on the ear and glared crossly at him from her nest.

"Answer Firepaw you useless lump of fur." She spat. Toadleg growled lowly from his nest and hissed out quickly that he didn't have any ticks. Firepaw nodded slowly and blinked gratefully at Ivyclaw then charged out of the elder's den and bounded off toward Fallowpelt's den. As he approached Fallowpelt's den he saw her emerging from her den, possibly heading for the fresh-kill pile. He called out to her, stopping her in her tracks.

"Yes Firepaw, what is it" she asked stiffly.

"I need mouse bile for the elder's ticks." She nodded slowly and turned back into her den. Firepaw waited outside her den, and in moments she had emerged with the foul smelling moss soaked in bile hanging from a stick.

"Here" she meowed; "I know I shouldn't have to remind you about what to do with your paws." Firepaw picked up the stick and quickly carried it back to the elder's den. He headed over to Blackbird and looked at his shoulder. He found a thick tick cling to his shoulder and dabbed it with bile. He then looked through the rest of the dark fur and found another between the old tom's shoulder blades. After he finished looking through Blackbird's fur for ticks he padded over to Ivyclaw and dabbed the center of her back with the bile making the tick drop off. Then he continued searching through her fur and dabbed a few near the base of her tail. Once he was finished he asked the elder's if there was anything else they needed. When they replied that they didn't he raced out of the den and toward the tunnel that led outside the camp. He raced off toward the creek to wash his paws off.

Once he was back in camp he padded toward the fresh-kill pile and pulled out a robin, and padded toward the apprentice den settling in front of the entrance. He started to pluck the feathers off when suddenly Goldenstar padded up to him.

"Firepaw, have you hunted for the elder's yet?"

"Umm, no Goldenstar I haven't." he meowed quietly.

"Then put down that fresh-kill and go hunt." She meowed keeping he gaze fixed on Firepaw. Firepaw glanced longingly at the robin, but stood and head toward the camp entrance again. He glanced back and saw Goldenstar put the robin back in the fresh-kill pile. He sighed irritably and charged out into the forest again.

Firepaw, carried his catch into the fresh-kill pile. He caught a two sparrows, a dove and a starling. It was long after sunhigh and he still hadn't eaten anything so he picked up one of his sparrows and started to over toward the apprentice den to eat some prey, However Goldenstar came over to him before he could do so.

"Have you changed the elder's bedding and given them fresh-kill? "She asked evenly.

"No Goldenstar, the elder's said they didn't need their bedding changed and I brought them fresh-kill this morning I thought they wouldn't need any more fresh-kill until later. " Goldenstar sighed a little.

"Firepaw you have to understand that the elder's sometimes say they don't need something because they don't want to be a burden. Go change their nest and if they try to stop you tell then that I said it was to be done. Then you can eat" She meowed noticing how hungry Firepaw looked. Firepaw dropped his sparrow and hurried over to the elder's den. Blackbird was napping, Ivyclaw and Toadleg were having a staring contest and Moonwatcher was messing with a beetle on the ground. He looked up as Firepaw approached meowing a greeting.

"Hello Firepaw, did you need something?" he asked softly. Firepaw nodded.

"Goldenstar asked me to change your bedding." Moonwatcher nodded in understanding and picked and climbed out of his nest, letting Firepaw roll up the soiled moss. Firepaw glanced over at Ivyclaw and Toadleg wondering what the two elders were bickering about now. Moonwatcher purred at him, probably noticing his confusion.

"This is just how they tolerate each other." Moonwatcher purred. "Sometimes I forget that they are mates." Firepaw dropped the soiled moss in his jaws in shock. He stared incredulously at Moonwatcher.

"But they're always at each other's throats and insulting each other." Moonwatcher nodded in agreement.

"Yes, but their always there for each other, and they do show affection every once and a while. Besides if they really didn't like each other do you think their nest would be right next to each other?" This made Firepaw pause.

"I suppose that's true." Firepaw murmured gently, picking up the moss and padding up to the couple. Once more Ivyclaw looked happy to see him and Toadleg looked disgusted.

"Can I have your old moss so I can clean your nest's?" he asked calmly. Ivyclaw nodded and helped Firepaw roll up the moss and Toadleg climbed out of his nest to allow Frepaw to get his moss. Firepaw turned to look at Blackbird the tom was still sleeping.

"Just go get fresh moss, for all of our nests then you can clean Blackbirds when you get back." Rasped Ivyclaw. Firepaw agreed and ran off to dispose of the soiled moss.

When Firepaw had finished changing the moss for the elder's dens and getting them more fresh-kill he noticed that he was more tired than hungry, as he walked pass the fresh-kill pile, but passed looking back at the fresh-kill pile. He noticed Sunkit pulling out a magpie. He noticed how big she had grown. 'it won't be long till she's apprenticed' he briefly wondered who would mentor her. The young she-cat was still quite shy and barely spoke to any of the warriors. Firepaw watched her a bit longer then headed into the apprentice den to sleep.

Firepaw woke up in his nest. He saw Longpaw curled in his nest next to him. He carefully climbed out of his nest and padded out of the apprentice den as quietly as he could. He glanced slowly around the clearing making sure everyone was in their nests. He had overheard earlier that Grayfeather was on guard duty and kept an eye out for the she-cat as he padded toward the secret exit that Dovefeather had showed him. For a moment he felt a little sadness, the newly named white warrior hadn't spoken to him at all, since yesterday. Firepaw wondered if she was still angry with him. 'He shook away his sadness and padded out of the secret exit. Once he was out in the forest he looked around trying to gather his bearings. He remembered the direction he and Dovefeather went to get to the Sun Rock and went in the opposite direction knowing that will take him toward ThunderClan territory.

As Firepaw approached the large Birch tree, he kept a look out for Scorchpaw's black and white pelt. He sat patiently for several minutes, and then decided to climb the tree to see if he could spot Scorchpaw coming. He crawled out onto one branch and looked into ThunderClan territory slowly gazing around the visible area. Suddenly a familiar black and white pelt could be seen making its way toward the birch tree. Firepaw waited on the tree branch for Scorchpaw to reach him.

"Firepaw, are you here?" Scorchpaw mewled softly. Firepaw waited until Scorchpaw to get in the best position then pounced onto his back with his claws sheathed. Scorchpaw nearly yowled in alarm and shook fiercely knocking Firepaw off his back he spun around wide eyed in fright then relaxed when he saw the familiar fiery pelt of his friend. "Don't do that you scared the dirt out of me." Firepaw purred in amusement.

"Sorry but I couldn't help myself." Firepaw meowed amusedly. Scorchpaw shook his pelt to calm himself down.

"What were you doing in a tree anyway?"

"I was looking to see if I could see you coming in the trees." Scorchpaw looked at him in confusion.

"Why didn't you just smell for my scent? Wouldn't that have been easier than nearly scaring the pelt off me?" Firepaw shrugged

"I suppose but it wouldn't have been nearly as fun." Scorchpaw huffed a little then got into a playful fighting stance.

"Come on lets practice battle moves." Firepaw nodded and crouched into a fighting stance. The two began to circle each other slowly looking for weaknesses. Firepaw felt a little unease from doing this, but remembered how he got no training and probably wouldn't for a while. With that in mind he focused on Scorchpaw who had leaped at him with claws sheathed. Firepaw braced himself for impact, and rolled with Scorchpaw as he land on his shoulders , Scorchpaw sprang away before being crushed by the weight and charged for FIrepaw's exposed belly. Firepaw was on his feet in an instant and moved to intercept Scorchpaw.

"Not bad you two, but you could be better." A voice rasped in the darkness. The two apprentices froze in terror. They looked around for the mysterious cat who had spoken. Suddenly a few bushes parted from ThunderClan side of the border and a cat emerged. 'She's that old she-cat from ThunderClan.' Firepaw thought in alarm.

"Y-Yellowfang, w-what are y-you doing here?" Scorchpaw asked nervously. Yellowfang turned her owlish orange gaze at Scorchpaw.

"Don't you think I should be asking you that? I may not have been born to ThunderClan, but I'm still a medicine cat and can go where I need to at night. You are an apprentice and should be resting, instead of playing with an apprentice from a rival Clan." Scorchpaw looked a little guilty and Firepaw felt even more worry. 'This is bad I shouldn't have come.' "However, I think the two of you are doing something useful for yourselves." The two looked at her in surprise.

"Really?" Firepaw asked in shock. Yellowfang nodded.

"Yes I see potential in you both and I want to help the two of you find it." Scorchpaw looked excited but Firepaw was curious.

"But, why would you help us?" Yellowfang turned her bright orange gaze at him.

"Because I know what it's like to live in a Clan that thinks so little of you and doesn't trust you no matter how much you do for them. The three of us have one thing in common and that is that we are all outsiders in our Clans. I want to help you two become great warriors, under a condition of course." Firepaw tensed and Scorchpaw began to look nervous again.

"And what would that be?" Firepaw asked curiously

"That after the two of you become warriors, you won't meet like this again." Yellowfang meowed giving both toms an intense, serious gaze. "We have the warrior code for a reason. Is this understood?" Firepaw and Scorchpaw shared a look before nodding their heads in agreement. "Very well let's begin."

Firepaw stretched his aching muscles as he climbed out of his nest. It had been four nights since Yellowfang made her offer to train Scorchpaw and himself. Firepaw had to admit that they both were getting better than they were before. Yellowfang had shown them a new move that required them to twist in the air like an adder while at swiping an enemy. They both had been able to pull it off, Though Firepaw was faster than Scorchpaw, but Scorchpaw had a stronger swipe. Firepaw rotated his shoulders trying to keep them from getting stiff. He sighed as he made his way out of the apprentice den, ignoring the fresh-kill pile instead heading for the elder's den knowing that the elder's needed fresh bedding. He yawned a little trying to fight the sleepiness he was feeling. He was almost to the elder's den when a voice called out to him. He turned to see Runningstream racing up to him.

"Morning Runningstream, what can I do for you?" he meowed trying to fight down a yawn.

"Morning Firepaw, Goldenstar wanted me to tell you to go to the training grounds today, you don't have to take care of the elder's." Firepaw blinked slowly at her in surprise.

"But, who's going to care for the elder's?" Firepaw did prefer to train, but he felt very attached to the elders after spending so much time around them.

"I will look after them."

"Really? But you're a warrior now." Runningstream purred softly.

"That's what it means to be in a Clan. It's everyone's responsibility to care for the elder's, besides I like taking care of the elder's I love listening to their stories." She purred happily. "You should hurry; you don't want to keep Goldenstar waiting." Firepaw thanked her and raced off to the entrance only to come face to face with Lightningstrike and Dovefeather as they came through the entrance from an early patrol.

"You're not slacking on your duties are you kittypet?"Meowed Lightningstrike. Firepaw felt the fur rise along his spine but ignored Lightningstrike's taunt, weaving around the young warrior to get to the tunnel. He ignored Dovefeather, who hadn't spoken up in his defense and raced through the tunnel to head off for the training grounds.

When he reached the training grounds, he saw Longpaw and Finchflight were there working on Longpaw's battle moves. Goldenstar was waiting near the base of the Oak tree, in the center of the clearing. She rose to her paws as she saw Firepaw approach.

"Morning Firepaw, I thought you've had enough punishment, it's time to focus on your training again; you need to make up for the time lost." 'Not really.' Firepaw thought to himself as he started to circle his mentor, quickly thinking of all the moves that Yellowfang had taught him. He watched Goldenstar wondering briefly if he should make the first move or if she would make the first move instead. The decision was quickly taken from him as Goldenstar leaped for him suddenly and Firepaw sprang into the air twisting his body so he landed onto Goldenstar's shoulders latching his teeth into her scruff as if she was an enemy warrior and raked his paws, with claws sheathed. Goldenstar began to roll quickly onto her back to crush Firepaw beneath her. Firepaw squirmed away before she could and dived for her exposed belly. Goldenstar was on her paws in seconds and swiped at Firepaw with sheathed claws. Firepaw took the blow to the head, to grip Goldenstars foreleg in his teeth using the momentum to twist her onto her back and quickly sprang away to look for a weak point. Goldenstar was one her paws again watching Firepaw with curiosity and a calculating stare. She raised her tail as a signal for Firepaw to stop his attack.

"Firepaw, where did you learn that move?" she asked quietly. Firepaw stared at her unblinkingly.

"It just came to me suddenly; I saw it as an opening." Firepaw meowed, though he felt a little guilty for having to hide the truth from Goldenstar. Goldenstar held his gaze for several more minutes, then turned away from him to look at Finchflight. Finchflight and Goldenstar were quietly discussing something as Longpaw came over to talk to Firepaw.

"Wow those were some great moves Firepaw, you really had Goldenstar thinking. How'd you know to grab her like that?" Longpaw meowed.

"It was just a lucky move; I haven't been training, so it's given me time to think of moves to use in battle." Firepaw meowed with a quick glance at Goldenstar hoping she didn't suspect that he was sneaking out of camp. Goldenstar padded back over to him, and then turned, beckoning with her tail for him to follow her. Firepaw followed her trying not to let Goldestar see just how nervous he was.

"I have decided that I want to have a hunting assessment for you Firepaw. You missed the one we had a few days ago. Longpaw you can join as well since your assessment was interrupted." Goldenstar meowed at both apprentices. Longpaw looked excited to show off his hunting skills. Firepaw was glad that Goldenstar no longer seemed to be focused on his battle skills, and was eager for his hunting assessment. "Firepaw, I want you to hunt near Bat Hollow, Longpaw, you hunt near Sun Rock, bring your prey back here you have until sun high." Once Goldenstar had finished speaking both apprentices took off into the forest heading toward their intended destinations.

Once Firepaw had reached the Bat Hollow he listened around for prey that might be around. He saw a sparrow that was hopping around a bush. Firepaw start to creep toward the sparrow slowly closing the distance between him and the small bird. As he got a bit closer a sudden fluttering of wings startled him and the sparrow took off. He flicked his tail in frustration; he glanced around slowly looking for what had made the fluttering noise. He quickly located what he was looking for and crept forward once more.

Firepaw carried his catch back to the training hollow. He had caught a robin, two sparrows and a quail. It was a decent sized catch and would feed several cats. Once he arrived back at the training grounds, he saw that Longpaw was already there. Longpaw had caught a crow, three robins and a swallow. Goldenstar looked at their catches nodding with approval.

"Well done, you two your hunting is going well." She meowed with pride.

"It won't be long before the two of you are warriors." Finchflight meowed. Longpaw puffed up his chest, Firepaw purred happily pleased that Goldenstar had praised them both. Goldenstar picked up Firepaw's two sparrows and Firepaw picked up the quail tucking the robin under his chin. Finchflight picked up Longpaw's crow and a robin. Longpaw picked up the two other robins and swallow carefully and the four headed back to camp. Once they had reach camp, they placed the prey into the fresh-kill pile. Goldenstar and Finchflight headed toward Goldenstar's den telling Longpaw and Firepaw that they could eat and rest. Runningstream emerged from the elder's den and approached Firepaw and Longpaw.

"Hello Firepaw, Longpaw how was your training" she meowed softly.

"It was great, you should have seen Firepaw, he used some pretty great moves on Goldenstar." Longpaw meowed. Firepaw looked down licking his chest a little in embarrassment. He felt the guilt surging in him again, knowing he couldn't tell the two of them about his visits with Yellowfang and Scorchpaw. He yawned a little and began to pad off toward the apprentice den to have a quick rest before it was time for him to meet Yellowfang and Scorchpaw. Longpaw called after him.

"Hey Firepaw aren't you hungry? Why don't we share your quail?" called Longpaw. Firepaw sighed a little knowing he wasn't that hungry, but he knew if he didn't eat then they might start to get suspicious since he didn't eat much while in camp.

"Okay, that's fine." Firepaw meowed as he padded over to Longpaw lying down beside him helping Longpaw pluck the feathers off the quail. He ate a few bites of the bird eating enough of the quail to keep Longpaw from getting suspicious, then Firepaw headed off toward the apprentices den; he went inside crawling into his nest, deciding to get some rest before he left.

Firepaw reached the meeting ground, and looked around waiting patiently for Yellowfang and Scorchpaw to show up so they could practice their skills. It wasn't long before he caught the scent of Scorchpaw but surprisingly he didn't catch Yellowfang's scent. Firepaw looked at his friend in confusion as Scorchpaw approached.

"Where's Yellowfang?" he asked quietly. Scorchpaw looked at him a moment looking shaken. "What's wrong?"

"ThunderClan was attacked by ShadowClan today while Bluestar, Whitestorm, Graypaw and I were away from camp." Firepaw looked at him in shock and confusion.

"When? What happened? Why were you away from camp.?"

"We weren't in camp because Bluestar wanted to go to the Highstones again. She had tried to share tongues with her warrior ancestors the first time we went but she didn't have any luck. When we got back it was to the whole camp in chaos. We were able to run them off, but t-they k-killed L-Lionheart." Scorchpaw shivered. Firepaw brushed his pelt against his friend's knowing that this must have been the first fight that Scorchpaw had to fear for his life.

"Where's Yellowfang, is she hurt?" Firepaw asked with a little concern.

"Not badly, but she stayed behind to help Spottedleaf treat the other injured cats. She said that I shouldn't come out here but I had to tell you and ask you something. You are the only one that I can trust with this."

"What is it?"

"I need your help with something, this is a dangerous situation a life hangs in the balance." Firepaw began to feel nervous. Not sure he wanted to deal with something so serious, but knowing that he was the only one Scorchpaw felt comfortable enough to ask, he decided to hear him out.

"Okay what do you need me to do?"

Firepaw yawned quietly as he padded beside Goldenstar, with Runningstream and Mapletail bringing up the rear. They were on a border patrol checking the ThunderClan border. Firepaw felt nervous that they would notice his scent near the border, but figured that they wouldn't notice with the surprise Firepaw knew would be waiting at border. As the patrol neared the Birch tree Runningstream yowled an alert and Firepaw spotted the cat sitting on the ThunderClan side close to the border. It was the unmistakable black pelt that kept his attention. Goldenstar approached the border but didn't cross it, calling out to the skinny tom sitting on the other side.

"Who are you and why are you so close to the border?" The tom nervously rose to his paws and padded closer to the border and looked Goldenstar in the eyes.

"My name is Ravenpaw and I wish to join SkyClan."

Okay I know that in the summary I said that I would have cats from skyclan that both did and didn't have skyclan blood but that was before SkyClan's Destiny came out, as a result I don't think I will add the day-light warriors into the story. I have been think for a long time whether I wanted to add them or not and decided I wasn't going to.

So a lot of things have happened in this chapter. Let me know what you think of it.


	11. Chapter 11

Here's chapter 11 sorry it took so long to get it done .

Chapter 11

Firepaw glanced up at Goldenstar to see her expression at seeing the ThunderClan apprentice on their shared border. Goldenstar regarded Ravenpaw carefully. Without taking her eyes off of Ravenpaw, she signaled Mapletail to climb the birch tree. A moment later Mapletail leaped back to the ground and padded up to stand beside Goldenstar.

"I didn't see any others, Goldenstar." Mapletail reported quietly. Goldenstar gave nothing away in her expression; she motioned Firepaw and Runningstream to stand beside her.

"You two go and fetch us prey. "She meowed calmly. Firepaw was surprised but said nothing as he started to pad into the forest. Runningstream stared at Goldenstar in slight disbelief.

"Are you sure you want us to go hunting now? There could be others." Runningstream meowed with an anxious tone. Goldenstar waved her tail dismissively.

"It's fine, I need to speak to this apprentice, but I want you and Firepaw to hunt for us now." she meowed. Runningstream still looked unsure but followed Firepaw into the forest. Firepaw slowly approached a bush giving a brief sniff to see if there was any prey for him to find there, after finding it empty he sniffed around for any sign of prey. As he searched for prey, he wondered what Goldenstar would do about Ravenpaw. When he had talked to Scorchpaw the night before, his friend had made it clear to him that Ravenpaw's life was in danger and that his own mentor was the one who was threatening his life. Firepaw recalled that at the gathering that Ravenpaw's mentor, Tigerclaw had seemed very agitated when Ravenpaw had been telling the story of how Redtail died at sunningrocks and he wondered if the story had anything to do with the reason Tigerclaw wanted to harm Ravenpaw. He figured it would be best to ask him, if Ravenpaw joined SkyClan. Firepaw sighed gently and continued to search for prey.

He and Runningstream caught a sizable amount of prey which they brought back to where Goldenstar and Mapletail were talking to Ravenpaw. Firepaw put the prey they caught close to where Goldenstar was sitting. Goldenstar motioned for Runningstream, Mapletail and Firepaw to have some prey. Each cat picked up a piece of prey quickly peeling off the feathers When the rest of the patrol had eaten she pushed a mouse that Firepaw had caught over to Ravenpaw. The ThunderClan apprentice look at the offer prey, the glanced nervously up at Goldenstar, who nodded for him to take a bite. Ravenpaw sniffed the prey and took one more glance at Goldenstar before taking a bite of the prey. He seemed to snap the prey up quickly looking nervously at all the cats present. Goldenstar then stood on her paws; she beckoned for Ravenpaw to stand on his paws.

"I've decided to let Ravenpaw stay at SkyClan, while he is there I will decide if he should join or not." Goldenstar explained. "In the meantime, Mapletail I want you to take the lead of this patrol and finish checking our borders." Mapletail nodded, Runningstream looked like she wanted to protest the leader leading a cat from an enemy clan back to the camp alone, but she didn't say a word. Firepaw looked concerned but didn't say anything either he just followed Mapletail, along the border and looked over his shoulder as he watched the two disappear through the territory.

When the three arrived back at camp, it was clear that the clan was aware of Ravenpaw's presence and that there were mixed feelings about whether the black apprentice should be in the camp. Firepaw looked at the cats around the clearing and spotted Longpaw by the apprentice den. He quickly darted over to sit by his friend.

"Did you hear about the ThunderClan apprentice that's here?" Longpaw asked him quietly glancing over at Ravenpaw, who was currently sitting close to the leader's den, watching everyone with a hint of fear in his eyes. Firepaw nodded to his friend explaining that he had seen him on his patrol with Goldenstar. As he spoke, Goldenstar leaped onto the high branch to address the clan.

"Let all those able to catch there on prey gather beneath the High Branch." She called out. Most of the Clan was already in the clearing, but there were still some cats that had yet to emerge from their nests. Once the Clan had gathered, Goldenstar began to speak.

"As I'm sure the majority of you already know that we have a rival clan's apprentice in our clan, He is here because he wishes to join our Clan." Yowls of disbelief rang out in the clearing. Ravenpaw seemed to shrink into himself.

"How do we know he isn't a ThunderClan spy?" Yowled Stonetooth, as he glared at Ravenpaw. The dark apprentice flinched under the harsh stare of the big gray tom. Other cats began to yowl in agreement. Firepaw looked around and notice some cats protesting the loudest besides Stonetooth were Spiderfang, Lightningstrike and Redflower. He glanced at the nursery and saw, Sharpkit, Leafkit, and Sunkit watching from just outside the nursery, he noticed that Sunkit was wearing a worried look on her face and he briefly wondered if she was worried about Ravenpaw. His attention was quickly turned back to Goldenstar who raised her tail for silence. She waited the clan had quiet down before speaking once more.

"This apprentice brings us useful information to know, First off ThunderClan has been holding the ShadowClan rogue prisoner in their camp." A gentle murmur began to spread across the clearing. "Also it would appear that ShadowClan has attacked ThunderClan and have killed their deputy, Lionheart."Cats yowled in disbelief; Firepaw noticed the cats start to wear looks of worry.

"Why is that useful for us?"Lightningstrike snorted. Ashstorm stared at his former apprentice in disbelief.

"I thought I taught you better than that Lightningstrike, this information is very useful, now we know that Brokenstar doesn't plan to wait for the next gathering for us to make our decision." Ashstorm growled out. Goldenstar nodded at her deputies words.

"Exactly, we must be prepared for them to attack us at any time, I want more patrols focused by their borders and I want at least three warriors in camp; no cat is to leave the camp alone and apprentices can only leave camp with their mentors or another warrior." 'Mousedung this will make sneaking out harder.' Firepaw thought to himself as he looked around the camp. All the cats were meowing in agreement.

"What about the ThunderClan apprentice?" Smokecloud questioned; Goldenstar seemed to glance at Ravenpaw before answering.

"He will be staying here. Until I am certain he is sincere in joining our clan, I will be overseeing him along with my own apprentice, if he is completely trustworthy he will join our ranks. Until then no one is to know that he is here, if anyone talks about him to someone outside of our clan there will be a severe punishment." She finished glancing at Firepaw, who gave her a look of shock and surprise. Some cats began to protest but Goldenstar raised her tail for silence.

"That is enough I have made my decision, this meeting is over, Ashstorm I wish to speak to you." she meowed leaping from the High branch. The gray striped tabby followed Goldenstar over to her den. FIrepaw was shaken from his surprise by Longpaw, nudging him in the shoulder.

"Can you believe it? We have a new apprentice and ShadowClan has already made their move on ThunderClan." Longpaw meowed in excitement. Firepaw was about to reply when someone else beat him to it.

"Remember what Goldenstar said, he hasn't really joined yet, she needs to make sure that he is joining us sincerely and not because he wishes to spy on us." Runningstream meowed, padding up behind them. Longpaw shrugged.

"Doesn't matter, I can tell he'll join, does he really look like a spy to you?" He asked gesturing over at Ravenpaw who hadn't seemed to relax since he entered the camp.

"Longpaw's right, I don't think he's here to spy," Firepaw answered carefully.

"I suppose he is rather thin." Runningstream added softly. "And he doesn't seem all that confident."

'If only they knew.' Firepaw thought to himself as he glanced at the timid ThunderClan apprentice. Ravenpaw was currently sitting close to Goldenstar and Ashstorm, who seemed to be discussing the young apprentice. Goldenstar looked over at Firepaw and beckoned him over with her tail. Firepaw excused himself from his friends and raced over to Goldenstar, trying not to look at Ravenpaw too much.

"Firepaw, as you have heard, I will be overseeing Ravenpaw and training you. I want you to get used to having him around, so I want you to show him around the camp and to keep an eye on him." Goldenstar murmured quietly, Firepaw nodded slowly glancing at Ravenpaw, who was staring around the camp fearfully.

"Will you be training him too?" He asked, he watched the golden leader close her eyes in what appeared and she appeared to contemplate his question.

"No, I won't be training him, he can hunt with us, but I won't train him until I'm sure he's loyal." She answered finally. Firepaw nodded in understanding.

"Okay, I'll show him around the camp." Firepaw meowed making his way over to Ravenpaw. Goldenstar nodded, turning her attention back to Ashstorm. Firepaw padded over to Ravenpaw, who looked up at him nervously as he approached.

"Greetings I'm Firepaw." Firepaw meowed quietly; he noticed that Ravenpaw seemed to relax a little, before answering.

"I'm Ravenpaw." The black apprentice meowed quietly.

"Goldenstar wants me to get to know you better since will be spending time together, and she wants me to show you around the camp." Ravenpaw nodded in understanding and padded beside Firepaw as he showed him around the camp.

Firepaw had shown Ravenpaw around most of the camp. Just before they would reach the apprentice den, Firepaw brought him over to a small secluded part of camp that was close to the elder's den. A small opening, formed by two thick bramble bushes, made a short tunnel that led to a small clearing that was also surrounded by thick bushes. The clearing was big enough for 4 to 5 cats to lie down comfortably. The ground was covered in soft green grass and was shaded by two large boulders that stood on either side of the clearing and a large oak tree that stood just outside the bramble bushes. Firepaw entered the clearing first, with Ravenpaw following right behind him. Firepaw came and sat down in the center of the clearing, and Ravenpaw looked around in surprise and a little shock.

"What part of camp is this?" Ravenpaw asked quietly.

"This I just a place in camp that has been used to keep prisoners." Firepaw answered softly. Ravenpaw blinked at him in surprise as he looked around.

"But, wouldn't they be worried about the prisoner escaping?"

"Not really, they would have a guard outside the den and one inside to keep an eye on them." Firepaw replied. "Also the bushes are rather thick and high it would take a cat with a strong jump to clear them."Ravenpaw nodded in understanding as he took in the bramble bushes.

"I suppose you're wondering why I'm here." Ravenpaw meowed quietly glancing at Firepaw nervously.

"Scorchpaw told me that your life was being threatened by your mentor, but he didn't tell me why." Firepaw replied just as quietly. Ravenpaw looked even more nervous and upset. Firepaw came over and placed his tail gently on Ravenpaw's shoulder. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, I'll tell you, it's just not easy to tell anyone." Ravenpaw meowed. "I'm sure you know about Redtail's death right?" Firepaw nodded slowly.

"Yeah, he was killed during a confrontation with RiverClan right?"

"No, that's only the story Tigerclaw told everyone." Ravenpaw meowed with a slight tremor in his voice. "You know Tigerclaw, don't you?" Firepaw briefly remembered the gathering he had gone to not too long ago where he remembered seeing a large dark tabby warrior talking quietly to Stonetooth.

"Yes, I saw him at the last gathering." Firepaw told him quietly. Ravenpaw nodded gently.

"Well he told everyone that Oakheart, RiverClan's former deputy killed Redtail and that he had killed Oakheart in vengeance. But, I saw Oakheart get trapped by the rocks and Redtail was fine when RiverClan retreated and I saw Tigerclaw jump Redtail when they were gone." Ravenpaw finished trembling. Firepaw stared at him in horror.

"Y-you mean he just killed your clanmate? But why would he do that?" Firepaw asked

"So that he could become the deputy, but Bluestar choose Lionheart instead." Ravenpaw meowed softly. "Tigerclaw thought I didn't know until…"

"Until he heard your version of what happened at the gathering," Firepaw breathed, he was now beginning to understand why Ravenpaw wanted to leave ThunderClan.

"Did you tell Scorchpaw? Is that why he asked me to help you?" Ravenpaw shook his head.

"No, I didn't tell him anything, he just overheard Tigerclaw and Darkstripe another one of our warriors talking about how they were going to get rid of me." Ravenpaw meowed quietly. "That's why he told that I had to leave. He said that I should come here because he had a friend here who I could trust." 'That certainly sounds like Scorchpaw.' Firepaw thought to himself.

"I suppose coming to a different clan would be safer than staying in your own." Firepaw thought allowed. Ravenpaw gave the fiery apprentice a somber look.

"It's even worse when then clan things you've betrayed them." He meowed quietly. Firepaw blinked slowly in surprise.

"What do you mean? Surely your other clanmates are searching for you and wondering where you are?" he asked. The dark apprentice slowly shook his head.

"Tigerclaw has been spreading rumors around the camp that I have been spying for ShadowClan and that is the reason that they have attacked us so frequently." Firepaw stared in disbelief.

"But surely they don't believe all of that?"

"Not everyone does, Bluestar doesn't believe it, but she has been watching me closely and so has everyone else in camp. One of the older queens in camp hissed at me as I walked pass the nursery." Ravenpaw mewled sadly.

"But your just an apprentice, they can't possibly expect you to be spying for ShadowClan." Firepaw argued. "Why would they just accept Tigerclaw's word so readily?"

"Because he is a well-respected warrior who has just recently been made the deputy" Ravenpaw meowed a little bitterly. Firepaw just couldn't understand how the Clan could just turn on one of their own clanmates based on the word of one cat. He moved closer to Ravenpaw pressing his pelt against the thin shivering form beside him. He looked up and noticed that it was getting closer to dusk. 'I wonder if I can sneak out tonight. Maybe I can take Ravenpaw with me' Firepaw thought to himself.

"Firepaw"

"Yes Ravenpaw?"

"How did Scorchpaw, convince you to help me?" Ravenpaw asked with curiosity in his voice. "I know you both were friends in the twolegplace, but Scorchpaw just heard about Tigerclaw's plan to kill me how did you two arrange this?" Firepaw sighed and looked warily at Ravenpaw. He only knew what Scorchpaw had told him about the dark apprentice, so he wasn't sure he should say anything but, he figured it would be okay to tell Ravenpaw his secret.

"Okay I'll tell you, but no one can know about this, and that includes Longpaw." Firepaw meowed quietly. Ravenpaw nodded slowly. Firepaw then began to tell him all about his secret training sessions with Yellowfang and Scorchpaw and how Scorchpaw asked him to help Ravenpaw. Ravenpaw listened closely to Firepaw's story and wore an expression of surprise on his face when the story was over.

"Wow I never would have guessed that Yellowfang was helping him." Ravenpaw breathed softly. "I noticed that he had improved quite a bit in his training, but I thought he was just starting to get the hang of training."

"Would you like to come?" asked Firepaw

"Well I…" Ravenpaw was cut off by the presence of another voice.

"What are you two doing in here?" The two apprentices whipped their heads around to see Icefeather watching the two from her spot at the entrance. Ravenpaw glanced at Firepaw and remained silent. Firepaw felt his tail twitch nervously before answering her.

"I was just showing Ravenpaw where the clan use to keep prisoners and where we would have put the ShadowClan rogue if we had caught her." Firepaw meowed quickly, hoping she hadn't heard any of the previous conversation. Icefeather watched the two a moment more before nodding in acceptance of the answer.

"That's fine but, Goldenstar is looking for you both. She thought you two had left the camp."Icewhisker meowed briskly giving both apprentices a once over before turning to padded out of the area. "You two should go reassure her that you haven't left the camp." Firepaw nodded his thanks and beckoned Ravenpaw with his tail. The two padded out of the den quickly and looked around. Firepaw quickly spotted the golden tabby leader and dashed over to her. Goldenstar's expression was stern but relieved to see the two were okay. She stared expectantly at Firepaw and Ravenpaw.

"Where were you two, I was very close to sending out patrols to look for you both."

"I was just showing Ravenpaw around the camp , and I showed him the place where the Clan use to keep prisoners. We didn't mean to worry everyone." Firepaw explained quickly. Goldenstar sighed nodding her head in understanding. FIrepaw could see how weary the golden leader was. "Are you worried Goldenstar?"

"I am concerned, if ShadowClan really did run off WindClan and don't plan on waiting for the gathering to convince us to give them our territory then I don't know what to expect in the days to come." She sighed Firepaw could understand her uneasiness; ShadowClan could come at them at any time. When they least ualexpected them. Ravenpaw watched the two quietly before speaking up for himself.

"Goldenstar, where will I be staying?" Ravenpaw asked softly. Goldenstar watched him for a moment before answering him.

"You will stay in the apprentice den with Firepaw and Longpaw. The two of you should be waiting for me at dawn. Is that understood?" The golden leader meowed giving both apprentices and a stern look. The two meowed their agreements before Goldenstar, sent them off to the fresh-kill pile to eat and to rest for the next day. Firepaw helped Ravenpaw make a nest after introducing him to Longpaw, the three apprentice's then settled down to sleep.

Okay i know this is kind of a dull chapter but it was actually a really long chapter that got split in two the other chapter should be done before the end of this week.


	12. Chapter 12

Okay here is the next chapter sooner than I thought

Chapter 12

Firepaw nudged Ravenpaw awake from his slumber, the thin black tom blinked sleepily at him from his nest.

"Come on Ravenpaw, it promised you that I would take you to see Scorchpaw tonight." He hissed quietly in his ear. Ravenpaw had been staying in SkyClan for almost a quarter moon. Firepaw had continued with his late night training sessions, with Yellowfang and Scorchpaw but, hadn't taken Ravenpaw with him out of fear that the two might get caught, but Firepaw was confident that this night the two wouldn't get caught sneaking out together. Ravenpaw yawned softly and stretched quietly out of his nest. He murmured for Firepaw to lead him out of camp and followed quietly behind him. Firepaw lead Ravenpaw to the spot near the nursery that Firepaw always used to sneak out of the camp. They moved quickly and silently through the forest keeping a watchful eye out for Smokecloud and Spiderleg who were on guard for the night.

The soon reached the birch tree where he and Scorchpaw had been training with Yellowfang. He could just make out the smooth black and white pelt of Scorchpaw and the larger ragged form of Yellowfang. The she-cat's large orange eyes stared owlishly at them as they approached. Firepaw could see Scorchpaw's excitement of seeing his old friend.

"Ravenpaw it's good to see you, you look better." Scorchpaw meowed happily as he padded forward to greet his friend. 'It is true' Firepaw thought to himself. Even though Ravenpaw hadn't been a part of the SkyClan camp for long he had gained a little weight and wasn't as scrawny as he was when he first came to camp, though he was still quite thin. As the two apprentices caught up with each other, Firepaw came over to speak with Yellowfang, there was something that Firepaw didn't understand about the dark gray she-cat and his curiosity was getting the better of him.

"Yellowfang, may I speak with you?" Firepaw meowed quietly to keep the other apprentices from overhearing their conversation. Yellowfang blinked owlishly at him, the nodded silently moving away from the other two.

"I can see there is something on your mind that you wish to ask me." The older she-cat rasped softly. Firepaw nodded slowly watching the she-cat curiously before speaking what was on his mind.

"Yes, I want to know why you were banished. I don't understand why ShadowClan would banish such an important cat from their camp with no good reason." Firepaw questioned. Yellowfang stared unblinkingly at him, and then gave a raspy purr at the fiery apprentice.

"I wondered when you would ask me why I was banished." She purred. "It isn't a pretty story, but since you asked I will tell you." Firepaw sat down to listen closely to the story. "Not long after Brokenstar came into power in ShadowClan did things begin to change within the Clan. He changed the age that kits could become apprentices to 3 moons instead of 6 moons and he has forced elders to live apart from the clan." Firepaw stared at her in shock.

"But, why would he do that?"

"He feels that all cats should look after themselves and not care for other cats." She hissed softly. "Anyway because he was making kits become apprentices early he took out the kits of one of our queens to train them. Unfortunately he killed them while he was training by giving them wounds; that only warriors should have. By the time they were brought to me, StarClan had already claimed them. Brokenstar blamed me and had me banished." Yellowfang finished with a sad shake of her head. Firepaw could hardly believe what he had heard. Scorchpaw and Ravenpaw who had come over to hear Yellowfang's story also seemed to shiver in fear and disbelief of what they had been told.

"Brokenstar is horrible." Scorchpaw growled. Ravenpaw nodded in agreement.

"What's done is done; all we can do now is to prepare for the future." Yellowfang rasped, "Now I want you to try this move."

The three apprentices's trained through the night with Yellowfang, and headed for their respective dens later into the early morning. Ravenpaw and Firepaw snuck quickly and quietly back into their nests, letting sleep and Longpaw's snoring put them to sleep. When they woke in the morning, Goldenstar had taken the pair out for a hunt until sunhigh, later she had put them both in charge of caring for the elders, something Ravenpaw had been doing often during his stay in SkyClan under the supervision of at least one other cat in camp.

Close to dusk, Firepaw and Ravenpaw had just finished changing the bedding of the elders and were going to gather some fresh-kill for them, when Firepaw noticed something off. He looked around and other than Smokecloud and Spiderfang who had been on guard duty last night he didn't see any other warriors in camp.

"Ravenpaw, when Goldenstar left us, what was she doing?" asked Firepaw nervously.

"She was leading a patrol toward the ThunderClan border; she took Stonetooth, Owltalon, and Dovefeather with her. Ashstorm took out another patrol to check out the RiverClan border with, Lightningstrike, Runningstream and Icefeather. Hawkwing is leading the ShadowClan border patrol with Sootpelt, Grayfeather and Silverwind, and Finchflight went hunting with Mapletail and Longpaw.

"Then who is guarding the camp?" Firepaw nearly screeched in worry. Ravenpaw's eyes widened in the realization, that there may not be any warriors in camp. "Go check the warrior's den." Ravenpaw nodded and quickly raced into the den and coming out looking less worried.

"Smokecloud and Spiderfang are still here, but they're still tired from guard duty." Firepaw yawned a little shaking his pelt in an attempt to shake away his fatigue.

"Yes and Blackflower just moved into the nursery."Firepaw murmured. "These patrols are getting harder to keep track of, I think Ashstorm put too many cats on patrol. Who's in charge of the camp?"

"I guess Smokecloud," Ravenpaw meowed, glancing around noticing for the first time how empty the camp was.

"I'll check the nursery; go see if Fallowpelt is in her den."Firepaw meowed quickly, racing off to look into the nursery. When he got there he saw that Snowfall, Squirrelfur and Blackflower were the only queen's in the den. The three queens looked up in alarm at Firepaw's sudden entrance.

"Is everything alright Firepaw?" Snowfall asked in concern.

"I'm sorry if I disturbed you but I was trying to see who was in camp and who wasn't in the camp the camp is nearly empty." Firepaw explained. The queens gave equal looks of worry and Squirrelfur padded out of the den to take a look. Her sons Stormkit and Rainkit tried to follow her out only to be stopped by Snowfall who gathered them up with her own two kits. FIrepaw saw Sharpkit and Leafkit watching him curiously from their mothers' nests and Sunkit came over to sit beside him. Squirrelfur returned shortly after confirming what Firepaw had said.

"Where are Redflower and Thrushfur?" Firepaw asked

"They went out for a hunt, together not too long ago." Blackflower meowed softly. Leafkit and Sharpkit bounced out of their nests in excitement.

"We can help guard the camp, we're big enough." Sharpkit meowed pointing his tail at Leafkit and Sunkit.

"Can we help too?" meowed Stormkit

"We wanna help guard the camp." meowed Cloverkit.

"You'll do no such thing. None of you are apprentices yet so you won't be guarding camp." Snowfall meowed harshly. "None of you are allowed out of the nursery until one of the patrols comes back."

"Is Fallowpelt here? She can help us guard the camp she used to be a warrior before she became a medicine cat." Squirrelfur meowed curiously.

"Let me check." Firepaw meowed moving out of the nursery, he spotted Ravenpaw making his way over to him.

"Fallowpelt is in her den she is mixing herbs just in case." Ravenpaw panted out. "What should we do now?"

"Let's go feed the elders." Firepaw suggested as he glanced once more around the camp. "They're probably wondering what's taking us so long and there isn't much else we can do." Firepaw quickly made his way over to the fresh-kill pile pulling out a thrush and a magpie, Ravenpaw pulled out a robin and wren; and followed the fiery ginger apprentice toward the elder's den. As Ravenpaw followed he heard the sound of cats entering the tunnel, but breathed in the unmistakable scent of ShadowClan and yowled an alert.

Within an instant the camp had exploded with screeches and yowls, fur was flying and a bitter tasted of blood filled the air. Firepaw grappled with a large brown to with a stumpy tail, and was able to send him racing for the tunnel with a well-placed bite along his spine. Firepaw could see Toadleg and Ivyclaw bravely facing a light gray tom with a black tail. Firepaw spotted a brown tom with a battle scarred face making his way to the nursery. Firepaw raced over to stop him, but was stopped by a silver tabby who knocked Firepaw onto his back. The tom slashed his claws into Firepaw's shoulder and tried to sink his teeth into Firepaw's throat. Firepaw slashed at the tom's stomach with his hind claws, sinking his fangs into the tom's foreleg. He kicked forward with his legs forcing the tom to flip over him landing on his back. Firepaw took the opportunity to rake his claws across his belly. The tom yowled and wrenched himself free racing for the tunnel. Firepaw turned back toward the nursery and saw Ravenpaw trying to fight off the brown tom with a battle scarred face. Firepaw started forward to help him, but a flash of dark ginger fur barreled into the tom before he could reach him. 'Redflower' Firepaw thought as he saw the fierce queen battering the tom with all her fury. Twin flashes of gold raced across the clearing ripping into the battle with ferocity and Firepaw felt relief. 'Goldenstar and Finchflight are back.' Firepaw thought briefly and he raced over to help Longpaw who was pinned beneath a ginger she-cat and sank his teeth into her scruff pulling her off of him allowing Longpaw to score her pelt with his long claws, the she-cat screeched and twisted around trying to get free. Firepaw released her and she took off for the entrance. Firepaw saw Stonetooth grappling with a large white tom with black paws, and Dovefeather fighting a silver gray tom. Firepaw raced over to help Dovefeather when he saw a tortoiseshell she-cat sneaking up behind her. Firepaw pounced landing on the tortoiseshell's back. The she-cat rolled over trying to squash him beneath her. Remembering his training with Yellowfang, Firepaw darted out from underneath the she-cat and raked her belly with his claws. The she-cat thrashed and darted for the tunnel. Firepaw quickly glanced around the camp and saw Smokecloud and Squirrelfur chasing the last few ShadowClan cats out of the camp. The queens quickly raced back into the nursery to check on their kits. Firepaw looked for Ravenpaw and saw him leaving the nursery. Goldenstar climbed the high branch. Firepaw could see her pelt was littered with scratches.

"Is everyone here alright?" she called. The clan meowed confirming that no one had been lost in the fight. "What happened?" Fallowpelt stepped forward.

"Firepaw and Ravenpaw noticed their weren't at least three warriors in the camp, and they both took it upon themselves to make sure that everyone in camp was aware of it, not long later Ravenpaw called out an alert that ShadowClan was attacking." She answered. Goldenstar nodded. Redflower came out of the nursery and padded forward to address the Clan beckoning Ravenpaw forward with her tail as she moved.

"Goldenstar the kits are safe, Ravenpaw protected them from Clawface and helped me guard the nursery from ShadowClan." The red queen spoke firmly "I believe he is sincere in his wish to join our Clan." Stonetooth sniffed.

"He did what any other Clan cat in this forest would have done; kits are protected in the warrior code." He growled. Redflower fixed him with a glare.

"Well if he was spying for ThunderClan what use would he be to them dead? Because that is what would have happened if I hadn't assisted him." She hissed in fury. Firepaw remembered that Clawface was close to delivering a kill bite to Ravenpaw before Redflower attacked him. Stonetooth glared back at the red queen, but didn't say anything else. Just then the other patrols came barreling through the tunnel. Hawkwing's patrol had returned, from their border patrol, with their pelts covered with scratches and bite marks, while Ashstorm's patrol looked fine. Goldenstar padded over to address the two patrols.

"The camp was attacked while we were gone, ShadowClan could still be in the forest. Ashstorm take your patrol out to check and make sure they are gone." Ashstorm nodded in understanding rounding up the cats in his patrol and storming out into the forest. Goldenstar turned her attention onto Hawkwing. "Did your patrol run into ShadowClan?"

"Yes, but I don't think it was the same group that attacked the camp. We just got finished fighting them off before we returned to the Camp, we didn't encounter any others on our way back, but we smelt ShadowClan near the camp entrance." Hawkwing answered, the licked a scratch on his shoulder.

"You and the others should go let Fallowpelt check your wounds." She told him, calling for Fallowpelt who had finished looking at the apprentices' wounds. The brown tabby she-cat bounded over to the patrol, she had a few scratches on her pelt, which showed she had participated in the fight that had occurred. Goldenstar padded away to look at the other cats in their clearing as they licked each other's wounds, reassuring each other after a terrible invasion of the camp. She let her amber gaze fall on Ravenpaw, who had come to sit between Firepaw and Longpaw, and watched the three apprentices as they talked about the battle, waiting patiently for Fallowpelt to come treat her wounds. Dovefeather padded up to the trio of apprentices and looked expectantly at Firepaw.

"Hello Dovefeather," Firepaw meowed a little hesitantly.

"Hello Firepaw, I wanted to thank you for watching my back and apologize for the way I've been acting, I don't like being treated as if I'm incapable of looking after myself, and having you and Lightningstrike fighting over who is the better protector of me made me feel as though you thought I couldn't take care of myself. I was hoping we could be friends again." She finished, looking hopeful. Firepaw watched her and nodded slowly as if not fully believing her.

"Yes I'd like that." Firepaw meowed at last. Dovefeather purred happily lying down beside the ginger apprentice to hear what happened before the attack.

Near moonhigh, the patrol had returned with no other sightings of ShadowClan. Which comforted the cats a little, but everyone was still surprised that ShadowClan had made it that far into their territory without anyone seeing them. Goldenstar leaped onto the High branch to call a clan meeting.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join underneath the High Branch for a clan meeting." She called out. The clan gathered in the clearing looking up at Goldenstar from her position on the High Branch.

"Cats of SkyClan, it is clear that ShadowClan has become a serious threat to our Clan, however this does not mean that I want to simply give them what they want." Cats yowled in agreement. Goldenstar waited for silence before speaking once more. "There were too many cats out today and this is only because I had cats defending the RiverClan and ThunderClan borders. These borders still need to be defended but not with the large patrols we took out today. For now one we will be keeping a closer eye on the ShadowClan border, smaller patrols will watch the other borders, until ShadowClan is no longer a threat "The cats meowed their agreement.

"For now we will work on repairs, and I want the nursery reinforced. We will begin repairs immediately, but before I end this meeting there are a few things I must do." She meowed, she fixed her amber gaze on Ravenpaw beckoning the dark apprentice to come forward. "Ravenpaw, you fought bravely to defend our Clan and risked your life to protect our kits. I would like to extend to you the chance to join SkyClan as a true apprentice." Ravenpaw stared in surprise, and warmly bowed his head to the golden leader.

"I accept, ThunderClan is no longer the clan I trust, SkyClan is my home now it is an honor to be a part of it." He meowed. Many clanmates yowled in approval, but Firepaw could see that some of the Clan was still reluctant to except the former ThunderClan apprentice into the Clan. Goldenstar nodded in acceptance as well.

"I call upon my warrior ancestors to give this apprentice a new mentor. Ravenpaw, you have lost your first mentor, so your new mentor will be Hawkwing. "Goldenstar meowed as she beckoned the large brown tabby over.

"Hawkwing, you are now ready to take on another apprentice. You will be mentor to Ravenpaw, you have shown yourself to be a warrior of Strength and Patience. I'm sure you will pass on all you know to this apprentice." She finished. Ravenpaw shivered a little as he looked up at the large tabby tom, but relaxed a little when he saw Hawkwing give him a reassuring look and touched noses with him.

"Ravenpaw, Ravenpaw, Ravenpaw" the clan chanted. Ravenpaw followed his new mentor to wait for the meeting to end. Goldenstar raised her tail for silence.

"There is one more thing I must do before this meeting is over. Firepaw and Longpaw step forward. Goldenstar leaped from the High Branch to stand before the two apprentices.

"Firepaw, because of yours and Ravenpaw's quick actions you allowed the Clan to be prepared for the attack on the camp, and you as well as you Longpaw fought bravely to defend the camp and I feel the time has come for you both to be made warriors." Firepaw nearly dropped his jaw is shock and Longpaw could only lift his chin in pride.

Goldenstar turned to look at Finchflight," are you satisfied that your apprentice is ready to become a warrior?"Finchflight nodded, the pride in his eyes unmasked.

"Yes, he is ready" Goldenstar nodded in acceptance and turned her attention back to Longpaw.

"I Goldenstar, leader of SkyClan call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn."

"Longpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and defend this clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do "Longpaw voiced with barely contained excitement.

"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior name. Longpaw, from now on, you will be known as Longclaw. SkyClan welcomes you as a full warrior." Goldenstar touched her muzzle to Longpaw's head as he leaned over to lick Goldenstar's shoulder. He then padded over to stand beside his former mentor and watched Firepaw with excitement. Firepaw watched Goldenstar's shining amber gaze fall onto his bright emerald eyes.

"I Goldenstar, leader of SkyClan call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn."

"Firepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and defend this clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do" Firepaw meowed with determination.

"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior name. Firepaw, from now on, you will be known as…"

**Sorry to leave it as a cliffhanger, but I can't decide what Firepaw's warrior name should be. I believe that cat would get a different name if they live in a different clan that's why I didn't name him Fireheart.**

**So far the names I have come up with that I like are: Fireblaze, Firestorm, Firebird, Firefang, Firestrike, Firelight, and Firehawk. I've decided to let some of you tell me which I should pick or you can give me a name that I can consider.**


	13. Chapter 13

Okay I've decided Firepaw's warrior name. I got a lot of suggestions and I saw a lot of my names I had thrown in, ultimately I chose Firestorm as the name I wanted. Let me say I truly had a hard time choosing the warrior name for Firestorm because I liked all the suggestions given.

Also **Wolf's Willow **asked why I was changing Firepaw's warrior name from Fireheart to something different. My reasoning behind this is that I feel that depending on what clan a cat is raised decides their warrior name. For instance, I think if Tawnypelt had stayed in ThunderClan there is a chance her name wouldn't have been Tawnypelt, I think she could have been called Tawnyflower after Goldenflower, just as Brambleclaw was named after Tigerclaw. Or if Feathertail and Stormfur had stayed in ThunderClan they could have been called Featherstream or Featherpool and Stormstripe, or Stormwater as either reminders of who their parents are or reminders of their heritage. I think that leaders' look for different things when naming their warriors, this is why I decided to change Fireheart's name. I think Bluestar named him Fireheart because she admired his spirit and knew he had the heart of a warrior, Goldenstar feels the same way, but she choose to look at a different trait like his skills when she chose his name.

I hope that clears up why I was changing Fireheart's warrior name.

Also I was asked another question by **Pale-eye **which a question was asked whether or not Sharpkit and Leafkit are Sharpclaw and Leafdapple and the answer is yes they are I did mention this in the author's note at the very beginning of the first chapter, this is an alternate universe and the main reason why I have the modern day SkyClan cats present in this story is because they are familiar characters, this doesn't mean their personalities will be the same as they are in the books, but I thought it would be nice if they actually got to grow up in a clan.

Another question asked by** Fireflame **was why Tigerclaw and Spottedleaf weren't in SkyClan because they have SkyClan blood… again I answered this in the author note at the beginning of the first chapter, but in case it was missed I will explain this…hopefully without giving away any spoilers… The main reason why I decided to keep them in ThunderClan is because I would have had to remove several ThunderClan cats besides Spottedleaf and Tigerclaw I would have had to also remove: Redtail, Willowpelt, Darkstripe, Longtail, Graystripe, Patchpelt and possibly Sandstorm I say possibly because Brindleface is her mother and Redtail is her father so she probably would have had to stay in ThunderClan anyway unless Brindleface joined SkyClan to be with Redtail, all of these cats possess SkyClan blood because they are related to Spottedleaf and TigerClaw in some way. Another reason is while Tigerclaw and Spottedleaf possess SkyClan the majority of their blood line comes from ThunderClan, remember Cloudstar's two kits were the only cats in ThunderClan to have SkyClan blood after SkyCLan left the forest besides their mother Birdflight, but I doubt she would take another mate, so even though Tigerclaw and Spottedleaf possess SkyClan it is highly diluted with ThunderClan, which is why I thought it would be easier to say that Birdflight was raised in ThunderClan, and fell in love with Cloudstar and their kits were raised in ThunderClan with their mother. I hope I've answered that question,

Again I'm sorry this took forever but I only work on these stories in my free time I'll try to get them up sooner.

SKYCLAN

Leader: Goldenstar- golden tabby she-cat with amber eyes

Deputy: Ashstorm- gray tom with dark gray tabby stripes blue eyes

Medicine cat: Fallowpelt- brown tabby she-cat with green eyes

Warriors: Smokecloud- dark gray tom with blue eyes

Finchflight- golden tabby tom with green eyes

Owltalon- light brown tabby tom with black paws, green eyes

Hawkwing- brown tabby tom with white chest, golden eyes

Apprentice, Ravenpaw

Grayfeather- gray tabby she-cat with a long feathery tail, and amber eyes

Silverwind- silver tabby tom with white chest and paws blue eyes

Mapletail- white she-cat with tortoiseshell tail green eyes

Sootpelt- black and white tom with amber eyes

Stonetooth - gray tom with amber eyes

Spiderfang- black tom with dark gray muzzle blue eyes

Icefeather- light silver she-cat with ice blue eyes

Dovefeather- white she-cat with light blue eyes

Lightningstrike- pale ginger tom with green eyes

Runningstream- silver she-cat with blue eyes

Longclaw- light brown tom with amber eyes

Firestorm- ginger tom with green eyes

Apprentices: Ravenpaw- black tom with a tiny white dash on his chest, and white-tipped tail formerly from ThunderClan

Queens: Redflower- dark ginger she-cat with green eyes (Sharpkit: ginger tom, Sunkit: golden tabby she-kit with white muzzle, chest and legs)

Thrushfur- brown and cream tabby she-cat with amber eyes (Leafkit: brown and cream tabby she-kit)

Snowfall - white she-cat with blue-gray eyes (Cloverkit: light brown she-kit with white chest and legs, Spottedkit: white she-kit with brown spots)

Squirrelfur- gray she-cat with bushy tail, blue eyes (Rainkit: light gray tom with darker flecks, Stormkit: dark gray tom)

Blackflower- black she-cat with green eyes

Elders: Moonwatcher - old dark gray tom with pale blue eyes

Ivyclaw- old mottled gray she-cat with green eyes

Blackbird- very old large black tom with a silver muzzle and amber eyes oldest cat in Skyclan

Toadleg- old dark brown tom with golden eyes

Chapter 13

"Firestorm, we welcome you as a full warrior of SkyClan." Goldenstar meowed proudly; she gently touched the top of his head as he bent down to lick her shoulder in respect.

"Longclaw, Firestorm, Longclaw, Firestorm" the Clan yowled with Dovefeather and Runningstream calling the loudest for the two newly named warriors.

"Tonight they will sit vigil, but I think they deserve to eat well tonight, in honor of our newest warriors and our newest clanmate we will feast." Goldenstar meowed and the clan cheered. "I'm sure no one would object to them having the first pick of the pile?" No cat protested as Goldenstar led Longclaw, Firestorm and Ravenpaw over to the fresh-kill pile. Their Clanmates were congratulating them as they passed through the cats to get to the fresh-kill pile. When they reached the pile, Firestorm pulled out a thrush, Longclaw pulled out a blackbird and Ravenpaw grabbed a bat from the pile. The rest of the Clan came over to grab their share of the fresh-kill. Firestorm and Longclaw settled down in a spot a little further off from the warriors den and the settled down to eat their prey. Runningstream and Dovefeather came to eat prey with them. Firestorm beckoned Ravenpaw to join them since he was the only SkyClan apprentice in the camp at the time. The five cats were silently discussing what would happen now that Longclaw and Firestorm were warriors.

"Now that Ravenpaw is the only apprentice in SkyClan, do you think Goldenstar is going to make Redflower's and Thrushfur's kits apprentices?" asked Longclaw with excitement. Runningstream shook her head in amazement.

"You just became a warrior and now you want to be a mentor?" she asked purring in amusement. Longclaw shrugged a little.

"I'm just curious that's all" Longclaw insisted while plucking the feathers off the blackbird.

"I'm more worried about ShadowClan, They attacked us before the next gathering and they tried to steal the kits." Firestorm pointed out.

"Firestorm's right, we need to be focusing on ShadowClan it's obvious they've become a huge threat to us, and it's clear that Goldenstar is worried that they will try something else before the next gathering." Dovefeather added as she finished plucking the feathers out of the robin she was eating. The others murmured in agreement. They continued talking about the attack until the clan began to head for their nests. Firestorm and Longclaw took up their posts for their vigil after sending their friends to their nests. Goldenstar came over to remind them why the vigil was so important to the clans and to make it clear that if anything strange happened during their vigil to alert the clan as soon as possible. She then headed off to her den to rest after wishing the two a goodnight.

Firestorm felt at ease during the night thanks to his late nights with Yellowfang, Scorchpaw and Ravenpaw. As his mind wandered to his late night training sessions, he realized with a jolt there was no way to inform his second mentor and friend that he couldn't come to train and that he wouldn't be allowed to train with them anymore now that he had been made a warrior. He then remembered that Ravenpaw could tell them, but would the newly made SkyClan apprentice risk sneaking out to see them? Firestorm glanced at Longclaw before risking a glance at the apprentice den, there was no sign of Ravenpaw near the entrance of the den. Firestorm sighed softly he figured Ravenpaw would either wait until later in the night to go visit Yellowfang and Scorchpaw or not go at all tonight, so he settled down next to Longclaw to wait out till dawn for their vigil to be over.

When the first light of dawn emerged from beyond the trees, is when the first warriors started to emerge from their den to head out on dawn patrol. Goldenstar emerged not long after them and headed over to her two newly named warriors. Firestorm and Longclaw looked relieved to see her as she approached.

"Your vigil is over, you may speak now," Goldenstar purred gently. Longclaw and Firestorm both breathed sighs of relief.

"Finally, I thought for a moment that I was going to completely lose my voice." Longclaw breathed, Firestorm purred in amusement and let out a quiet yawn.

"Both of you may go get some fresh-kill and then rest for the day." Goldenstar added as she took in the shape of the two. Firestorm and Longclaw nodded and thanked Goldenstar before heading directly for the warrior's den, as they entered the den the noticed some newly made nests in between two nests that smelt of Dovefeather and Runningstream, the two quietly made their way into the empty nests and settled down to sleep.

Firestorm awoke after sunhigh, nudging Longclaw awake as he jumped out of his nest. He glanced around and noticed that the only other cats in the den were Sootpelt, Silverwind and Runningstream. The three were sleeping peacefully. He stretched his long body then padded out into the clearing to have a look around. He noticed that the ground was a little damp, since it had rained a little while he had slept. Redflower and Finchflight were sharing a quail between them near the warriors' den; Thrushfur was watching hers and Redflower's kits play in the clearing. Spiderfang, Grayfeather and Owltalon came in through the camp entrance, their jaws full of prey they had caught. He noticed that Ravenpaw wasn't anywhere in the camp and figured he was training with his new mentor.

"It's about time you woke up." A familiar voice purred softly. Firestorm glanced over to see Dovefeather lying beside a partially eaten wood pigeon. "Would you like to share this pigeon?" Firestorm felt his stomach rumble remembering that he hadn't eaten since the night before. He purred his thanks to Dovefeaher and settled down beside the white warrior to share the pigeon.

As Firestorm licked his jaws clean of the last traces of pigeon, he looked around for Goldenstar, he remembered that his former mentor had been tense after the attack on the camp and wondered how she was doing. Dovefeather stretched and stood up suddenly heading for the camp entrance. She turned suddenly beckoning Firestorm to follow her.

"Come on lets go for a hunt." She called to him as she made her way to the camp entrance. Firestorm took one more look around the camp before following her out of the camp. As soon as Firestorm emerged outside the camp entrance, he and Dovefeather broke into a run racing down the hill. They moved through the trees quickly, pausing briefly to climb one of the trees. Firestorm walked out onto one of the branches the oak tree he had climbed into. He crept across slowly making sure to keep his fur hidden in the leaves. He looked over at another tree nearby and could just make out the soft white pelt of Dovefeather as she crept through the branches of the tree. He could barely see the robin in the nest of the tree she was stalking. Keeping low he glanced around in the branches of the tree he was in he spotted a chaffinch on a branch very close to his own. He bunched his muscles together and took a moment to judge the distance of the jump, and with a swish of his tail, he had the chaffinch between his paws, delivering a sharp nip to its neck. He picked it up in his jaws, judging the drop to the ground and leaped down taking his catch with him. A heartbeat later Dovefeather was beside him the robin in her jaws. They quickly hid their catches and continued their hunting until nightfall.

Dovefeather and Firestorm carried their catches into the camp, as they made their way to the fresh-kill pile, a loud screech echoed across the camp.

"They're gone my kits are gone," wailed Snowfall as she raced out of the nursery.

"My kits are missing too," yowled Squirrelfur as she raced over to Snowfall. Firestorm looked at Dovefeather and could see alarm that he himself felt at the sound of the queens' yowls. The Clan began to gather around the two distressed queens. Smokecloud raced over to Squirrelfur's side, and immediately began to comfort the distressed queen. Firestorm curiously looked to see if any cat would comfort Snowfall, but no toms made a move toward the white queen, Thrushfur and Redflower came to comfort her. He briefly wondered if the snow white queen's mate was still alive or not, He shook these thoughts from his head as he saw Goldenstar make her way to the queens. She sent Icefeather and Sootpelt into the forest to search for the kits.

"Are you sure they're not hiding somewhere?" asked Grayfeather asked soothingly. They shook their heads slowly.

"They were stolen," yowled a voice from within the nursery. The clan turned to look toward the nursery and saw Blackflower emerge from the nursery.

"There's a hole at the back of the nursery close to Snowfall's nest, I found a tuft of brown tabby fur near the hole and it bore ShadowClan scent," hissed the black queen. Cats yowled in in anger.

"We need to get them back"

"ShadowClan will pay for taking our kits." Smokecloud yowled above everyone. Firestorm was looking around for Longclaw and saw him coming through the entrance looking bewildered. Ravenpaw and Hawkwing came in behind them.

"What's going on?" Longclaw asked as he and Ravenpaw approached Firestorm, looking around at all his angered clanmates.

"ShadowClan stole Snowfall and Squrrielfur's kits." Dovefeather growled, but before she could say anything else, Goldenstar called for silence. Once the clan had quieted down she finally spoke.

"We will get the kits back, I will be sending a patrol to rescue the kits, however we also will need to keep cats behind to guard the camp incase ShadowClan attacked while there gone." The clan seemed to meow in acceptance waiting for Goldenstar to tell them who would be on this patrol. Firestorm could see Lightningstrike, flexing his claws in anticipation of the patrol.

"Ashstorm will lead this patrol; I will stay behind to help guard the camp." She meowed as she looked among her cats to choose who would join the rescue patrol.

"Grayfeather, Hawkwing, Silverwind, Mapletail, Finchflight, Stonetooth, Runningstream and Firestorm will go with him. " Firestorm blinked in shock and surprise that Goldenstar choose him to join the patrol. He looked at Runningstream whose eyes glowed in excitement. He ignored Lightningstrike growling under his breath about the clan going to the kittypets; Dovefeather padded up beside him and brushed her pelt gently against his pelt.

"Take care, and bring the kits back safely." She meowed softly. Firestorm promised her he'd be careful she purred softly as she turned to wish Runningstream luck. Longclaw came up to Firestorm.

"I wish I was going too." Longclaw meowed,

"Yeah me too, but you have an important job too remember this could be a trap to lure most of the warriors away so they can attack the camp." Firestorm pointed out, Longclaw nodded in agreement.

"Good luck and take care of Runningstream." Longclaw murmured under his breath, glancing at the pretty silver she-cat, Firestorm purred in amusement at his friend's obvious affection for the young silver warrior. Ashstorm began to lead the patrol out of the camp, Firestorm and Runningstream dashed after the tom with the rest of the patrol.

As they approached the Thunderpath, They slowed their quick pace down and crouched near the edge looking across the Thunderpath looking at the monsters passing by. Firestorm flicked his tail anxiously as he waited for the long line of monsters to finish passing them on the Thunderpath; Runningstream pressed her fur against his body nudging him gently.

"It's okay, we'll cross together," she murmured quietly Firestorm nodded in agreement. Ashstorm then addressed the patrol.

"I'll cross first, and then you will cross in pairs of two, Hawkwing & Mapletail, Stonetooth & Grayfeather, Finchflight & Runningstream, and Silverwind & Firestorm." Firestorm glanced over at Silverwind; the silver tabby tom was a very silent warrior. For the time that Firestorm had spent in SkyClan he hadn't heard the tom speak much, unless it was necessary. He wondered what the tom thought of him since he didn't really spend any time with the silent warrior so he didn't know how the tom felt about him. As he pondered this he felt Runningstream brush her body against his; as she passed him to stand beside Finchflight she gave him a reassuring look. He returned the look before, moving to stand beside Silverwind. The silent warrior blinked his eyes in acknowledgement of Firestorm as the fiery warrior came to sit beside him. Firestorm watched as Ashstorm crouched beside the edge of the Thunderpath he waited till there weren't any monsters coming then darted across the Thunderpath and resting peacefully on the other side.

Grayfeather and Stonetooth stepped forward and crouched looking both ways foe monsters, they darted over to the other side of the Thunderpath safely.

Finchflight lead Runningstream over to the Thunderpath, he murmured reassuring words to her as the waited for the monster to finish moving pass them. They started across when a monster rushed down the Thunderpath directly after the two. Finchflight leaped back, while Runningstream dashed across the Thunderpath to avoid being hit by the monster. When the Thunderpath was quiet Finchflight raced over to the other side.

Silverwind stood suddenly and walked over to edge of the Thunderpath, Firestorm scrambled over to his side and looked nervously up and down the Thunderpath when there weren't any monsters in sight they began to cross, and Firestorm flinched when he saw the bright eyes of a monster coming for them. Firestorm realized that they couldn't make it to the other side before the monster reached them. Suddenly Firestorm felt teeth in his scruff which pulled him next to a heavy thick furred body. Firestorm realized that Silverwind had pulled them both into the middle of the monsters path and was crouching low, Firestorm did the same and the monster rushed passed over them as it moved along the Thunderpath. Firestorm shivered as he stood up racing to the other side of the road. Runningstream came up to him looking relieved and a little shaken.

"I'm glad you're okay, I was so worried," she fretted as she looked him over. Before he could reply to her Silverwind came over and murmured softly in his ear.

"It's okay now the dangers passed, just relax." as Silverwind spoke Firestorm felt the tension in his body disappear, he blinked gratefully at Silverwind, who returned a nod, before moving to stand beside Finchflight. Hawkwing and Mapletail crossed without any problems. Once everyone had calmed down Ashstorm began leading the patrol through ShadowClan's territory, the patrol was completely silent keeping their eyes and ears open for a ShadowClan patrol.

"I smell the kits!" Hawkwing exclaimed suddenly, Ashstorm stopped to look at the brown tabby warrior.

"Are you certain?" he asked softly. Hawkwing gave a quick nod, while keeping a look of concentration on his face. "Very well take the lead; there is a chance that ShadowClan could be keeping them somewhere else instead of their camp." Hawkwing nodded in acknowledgement and took the lead carefully making his way through ShadowClan territory.

Suddenly Hawkwing froze with a bewildered expression upon his face, Ashstorm looked at him curiously.

"What is it?" he asked quietly. Hawkwing shook himself out of his shock, and then answered Ashstorm.

"I smell ShadowClan and ThunderClan, up ahead." He meowed quietly. Runningstream and Firestorm looked at each other in surprise.

"Why would they be together; what's going on?" Runningstream asked Firestorm questioningly, Firestorm was just as confused as she was, ThunderClan wasn't keen about letting ShadowClan hunt in their territory at the last gathering, so unless something happened to make them change their minds. It was then that Firestorm remembered what Scorchpaw had told him about the attack that was made on ThunderClan not too long ago that caused the death of Lionheart, ThunderClan's deputy he wonder if Bluestar had decided to negotiate with Brokenstar to stop the attacks on ThunderClan. Ashstorm shook him out of his thoughts by addressing the patrol.

"We'll sneak up on ThunderClan and ShadowClan and figure out what their up to. If it works in our favor we will attack them and continue with our mission, if not we will have to return to camp and figure out a new strategy." Ashstorm informed them all. Most of the patrol seemed to except this, Firestorm noticed that Stonetooth wasn't all that happy with the plan, but the gray warrior didn't say a word against Ashstorm. Ashstorm motioned for Hawkwing to take the lead again and fell in step behind him and the rest of the patrol followed Ashstorm. As they made their way through the soft peat staying upwind of the group of ThunderClan and ShadowClan cats that were up ahead. Firestorm could suddenly make out their scents and he guessed that Ashstorm could smell them too because he over took Hawkwing taking the lead, being careful not to make too much noise. As they approached Firestorm smelt some familiar scents among the cats.

They saw several cats standing beside an old burnt tree up ahead from them and Firestorm recognized three of the cats immediately. He could see the gray pelt of Graypaw, the ragged pelt of Yellowfang and the black and white pelt of Scorchpaw. He felt fear and worry creep into his stomach and he silently prayed to StarClan that he wouldn't have to fight them, and felt more dread as the patrol drew closer to hear their conversation.

"Brokenstar must be stopped he has broken too many codes, Listen, apparently ShadowClan is falling apart from within the Clan. Yellowfang was framed for the murder of kits in ShadowClan that Brokenstar killed, which is why she was banished. Also Brokenstar seems to have turned away from the warrior code entirely and is forcing kits to apprentices at less than three moons and is making the warriors at an even younger age. Who knows what they'll do to Frostfur's kits." Scorchpaw meowed. Mousefur and Willowpelt looked horrified. The rest of the patrol looked just as shocked. A black and white she-cat stepped forward.

"What he says is true I've already lost kits from the fight with WindClan." she meowed solemnly. "I do not want to lose anymore."

"Why hasn't anyone done anything?" meowed a large white tom that bore ThunderClan scent, Firestorm quickly recognized the cat as Whitestorm. Yellowfang looked at him.

"Brokenstar's word is law remember," meowed Yellowfang "And it goes further than that he is now reinforcing a new rule that every cat takes care of themselves. If you can't hunt you have no right to prey. As a result the elders have been banished from the camp."

"The stolen kits are our priority this moment." she meowed. "We won't be able to sneak them out without some of the other cats noticing."

"Brokenstar has taken ThunderClan kits as well?" Grayfeather questioned softly as she turned her gaze to Ashstorm.

"It would appear so, if we join them, we can probably get our kits back and bring down Brokenstar." Ashstorm murmured. He turned to address the patrol. "We will join ThunderClan and these ShadowClan cats to save the kits, everyone follow me." He spoke softly as he led the patrol toward the ThunderClan- ShadowClan rebellion. They cats hadn't noticed them yet because they continued their conversation.

"This will be dangerous, are you sure we can take on a whole Clan?" asked the large white ThunderClan tom.

"Yes, I am confident that we can do this. ShadowClan is run by Brokenstar and a few elite warriors, everyone else will fight for Brokenstar, but if they see that he may lose this fight..." Yellowfang mewled

"Then they'll fight for your side as will we," The cats spun in alarm to finally see the SkyClan patrol, Yellowfang focused her eyes on Ashstorm who had spoken. Firestorm could see Scorchpaw trying to inch over to where he was standing without getting everyone's attention. A dark striped warrior, who Firestorm recognized as Darkstripe turned to look questioningly at the SkyClan patrol.

"Why would you want to help us?" Darkstripe asked suspiciously.

"Because, we want Brokenstar to be stopped and we also wish to recover what was taken from us." Ashstorm growled softly, flexing his claws in the soft soil. Willowpelt's eyes widened in horror,

"They took your kits." She meowed softly, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Yes and we will get them back with or without your help." Growled Stonetooth, Firestorm was surprised by the hostility that Stonetooth was displaying, but he remembered that the Clans were currently under hostile threat from Brokenstar and he had also taken the future of their clans. Yellowfang stepped forward drawing all eyes to her.

"That's enough there is no need for this conflict, we are fighting for the same thing, we should save our energy to face Brokenstar, I have a plan to get us into the camp. I'll let my clanmates, bring me into the camp. As soon as I give a signal then ThunderClan and SkyClan can attack." She rasped softly. Whitestorm and Ashstorm nodded in agreement.

"Very well we must go now time is of the essence," Yellowfang rasped turning to head off toward the ShadowClan camp. The ShadowClan cats fell in step behind her, and ThunderClan and SkyClan started to mix a little with each other as they headed for the ShadowClan camp, Firestorm discreetly padded closer to Scorchpaw as they walked. The two fell to the back of the group, slowing slightly so they could talk.

"So, where have you been last night? Yellowfang and I were worried something had happened to you." Scorchpaw mewled. Firestorm opened his mouth to speak when a voice spoke up suddenly.

"Firestorm, make sure you two don't fall behind, stay with the group." Finchflight called looking back at the two.

"Yes Finchflight," Firestorm replied, he didn't miss the shock on Scorchpaw's face as he picked up his pace, once Finchflight seemed satisfied that he and Scorchpaw were keeping up with the group and had turned his attention away did Firestorm answer Scorchpaw.

"That's why, I became a warrior last night, and couldn't find a way to sneak out, oh and Ravenpaw is an official SkyClan apprentice now," Firestorm murmured quietly. Scorchpaw seemed both happy and sad that his friend was a warrior now, and he seemed very happy that the Clan had finally accepted Ravenpaw. Firestorm noticed that they seemed to be getting closer to what looked like the ShadowClan camp. "We'll discuss this later; we need to focus on retrieving the kits." Scorchpaw nodded in agreement and his face took on a look of concentration. Once they were close to the ShadowClan camp Yellowfang turned to face the others.

"ThunderClan and SkyClan should wait here for the signal." she meowed. She began forward followed closely by the other ShadowClan cats forming a circle around her as if she were their prisoner. The ThunderClan and SkyClan and warriors grew tense as they saw they last of the ShadowClan rebellion's tails slip out of sight into the camp.

A few moments passed before a loud yowl rang out in the sky. The patrols came charging forward with Whitestorm and Ashstorm in the lead before they came bursting through the entrance to the ShadowClan camp.

Firestorm was alarmed by the chaos that had erupted in the camp, but he quickly shook himself off before flinging himself on a brown tabby tom with a stumpy looking tail. The tom hissed and spat slashing with his forepaws trying to rake through his pelt. Firestorm dodges raking his long sharp claws down the toms left flank, sinking his fangs into the toms shoulder. With a screech, the tom flipped his body over. Firestorm wriggled his body from beneath the tom, slashing out with his claws, catching the tom across the face, before digging them into his spine. The brown tabby gave a loud yowl, before managing to shake himself free and turned to flee from the fight. Firestorm turned back into chaos and looked around for Scorchpaw he caught sight of him grappling with a very familiar silver tabby, the same one that had prevented him from helping Ravenpaw protect the kits. With a low growl, he leaped into the air landing on the shoulders of the silver tabby tom, knocking the tom off balance and pinning him to the ground. The silver tabby started to wriggle and tried to reach around to scratch the fiery warrior; Scorchpaw took the opportunity to sink his teeth into the silver tom's throat. The silver tom hissed and wriggled, then wrenched himself free, racing out of the camp, Firestorm gave a nod to Scorchpaw, who blinked gratefully at Firestorm, and then stiffened as his eyes locked onto something behind Firestorm. Firestorm looked around and spotted a familiar battle-scarred tom. As he looked back at Scorchpaw he saw a fierce look enter his friend's eyes before he leapt clear over Firestorm's head and landed on the tom's shoulders, sinking his teeth into the tom's throat. The tom flung himself around causing Scorchpaw to lose his grip on the tom. The battle-scarred tom began to bite and claw at Scorchpaw, but Scorchpaw in his fury slashed his claws over the tom's face and tackled the tom into a flurry of brown, black and white fur. Firestorm realized then that Scorchpaw wasn't fighting just to win this fight, but he was trying to kill this tom. Before Firestorm could stop his friend, Whitestorm had come and ripped the two apart, and delivered a fierce bite to the battle-scarred tom that sent him racing out the entrance. Whitestorm meowed something to Scorchpaw, before returning to battle, Firestorm moved to speak to Scorchpaw, but the black and white apprentice turned and leapt back into the fray. Firestorm whipped around seeing Runningstream fighting with a large tabby tom, she quickly came to her aid to help her fight him off. It wasn't long before they sent him racing out of the camp. She blinked gratefully at him, then returned to the fight, he saw Stonetooth pin a tortoiseshell she-cat beneath him and raked her back with his claws, Finchflight was fighting back to back with Hawkwing and Grayfeather was fighting alongside the ThunderClan warrior named Willowpelt.

Firestorm heard a loud yowl and turned to see Yellowfang locked in battle with Brokenstar, both cats fighting fiercely. Firestorm saw Yellowfang freeze in shock after Brokenstar hissed something at her; Firestorm tackled Brokenstar fighting to keep him from hurting Yellowfang. While he was grappling with the ShadowClan leader, he saw a flash of white and black fur slashing into Brokenstar's flank Scorchpaw slashed deeply into the ShadowClan leader. Brokenstar whipped around slicing into Scorchpaw's flank with his claws, Scorchpaw leapt back away from Brokenstar, who turned his attention to Firestorm. Firestorm sliced Brokenstar's ear, Brokenstar charged the fiery warrior but was stopped by Yellowfang barreling into him. As Brokenstar rose to his paws he realized that all his elite warriors were gone and he was alone surrounded by two enemy Clans as well as his own Clan who despised him. He hissed venomously at the Firestorm, Yellowfang and Scorchpaw.

"This isn't over," He growled as he turned and charged out of the camp heading out of the ShadowClan camp entrance. The ShadowClan cats looked relieved to see that Brokenstar was gone at last. Firestorm heard Whitestorm tell his clanmates to search for the kits and Ashstorm told Hawkwing and Grayfeather to find the kits.

A few moments later the kits had been found and were being looked over by Yellowfang and Runningnose, the ShadowClan medicine cat.

Once the medicine cats had finished looking over the kits they distributed between the two clans. Whitestorm walked over to Nightpelt.

"I can see that you will need time to recover after having to drive out some of your clan, ThunderClan will give you one moon of peace." meowed the white warrior.

"As will SkyClan," meowed Ashstorm, Whitestorm turned to look at Yellowfang.

"Yellowfang, I'd like to ask if you would be willing to return to ThunderClan as our medicine cat?" he asked softly. Firestorm's eyes widened in shock and he glanced around and noticed that other SkyClan cats looked confused as well. Noticing their confusion Whitestorm spoke up.

"Spottedleaf was killed by Clawface, the ShadowClan warrior who stole our kits," spoke Whitestorm, several cats gasped in shock. "We had captured Yellowfang a while ago and just recently let her join our Clan." Firestorm blinked slowly as he processed all that Whitestorm had said. 'Spottedleaf was dead?' Firestorm thought with sadness, he hadn't known the beautiful tortoiseshell for long, but she had been very nice and had been close to Scorchpaw, when Yellowfang allowed them a break in their training, his friend would tell him how great Spottedleaf was and he told him how the two of them were good friends, He now understood Scorchpaw's reaction to the heavily scarred tom that he had been fighting. 'If that cat had been Clawface then it makes sense why he had reacted so viciously to him' Firestorm thought.

"I will return to ThunderClan, ShadowClan is no longer the Clan I once knew." She rasped softly. As she rose to follow the ThunderClan warrior, an orange tabby ShadowClan queen came up to her, and spoke softly to her.

"I'm sorry Yellowfang," she murmured softy as she padded away. Yellowfang watched her go and continued on with her new Clan. Firestorm watched the exchange with curiosity then began to look around for Scorchpaw and spotted him carrying a little brown tabby tom in his jaws. Before he could go and speak to his friend he felt fur brush against his pelt. He turned his head to see Silverwind with Rainkit in his jaws. Silverwind placed the young kit in front of Firestorm's paws. Firestorm looked at Silverwind in curiosity.

"Ashstorm wants you to carry one of the kits, along with Runningstream, Grayfeather and Mapletail." He explained. "Finchflight, Stonetooth, Hawkwing, Ashstorm and I will be on the lookout for the ShadowClan rogues in case they decide to attack us as we return to camp." Firestorm nodded in understanding, as Silverwind padded away.

"Are we going home now Firestorm?" mewled Rainkit softly, the little kit was shivering a little. Firestorm purred comfortingly to the young tom.

"Yes we are; its okay you and the other kits will be back in the nursery soon." He meowed gently. As he finished speaking Ashstorm called the patrol together to leave. Firestorm picked up Rainkit in his jaws and padded up to Runningstream who was carrying Spottedkit in her jaws. Grayfeather came over to stand beside Firestorm; she had Stormkit in her jaws, which seemed to relax him when he saw his brother in Firestorm's jaws and Mapletail joined Runningstream on her other side with Cloverkit.

Firestorm took a moment to look for Scorchpaw and saw him leaving with his Clanmates, Graypaw was right beside him with a little gray she-kit in his jaws, but before Scorchpaw walked off with his Clanmates he looked over and gave Firestorm a reassuring look, letting Firestorm know he was okay and Firestorm returned the look and with the knowledge that his friend was okay he followed his Clanmates out of the ShadowClan camp.

Okay I'm stopping it there, i'll try and get started on the next chapter soon. again i hope i answered all the questions that were asked


	14. Chapter 14

Yep new chappy I apologize for the wait.

Chapter 14

The patrol reached the camp without any incidents; they came charging through the camp entrance. Snowfall, Squirrelfur and Smokecloud were waiting in the clearing, the two queens were lying in the clearing looking distraught until the warriors came charging into the clearing. Firestorm, Runningstream, Grayfeather and Mapletail released the kits they were carrying and watched them run toward their mothers. The two queens purred in delight and carefully picked up the kits ushering them back into the nursery. Goldenstar raced over to the patrol, the clan began to gather in the clearing. Fallowpelt raced from her den and began to treat the patrol's injuries.

"Ashstorm what happened?" Goldenstar asked looking over all the warriors that had been in the patrol.

"We were able to make it into ShadowClan territory without problem and we ran into a ThunderClan rescue patrol, apparently ShadowClan had stolen their kits as well; and there was also a group of ShadowClan rebels who no longer followed Brokenstar, we combined our strengths and took down the ShadowClan camp, Brokenstar is no longer the ShadowClan leader." he reported calmly. The camp murmured in shock. Goldenstar nodded in understanding.

"ThunderClan's medicine cat Spottedleaf, was killed when their kits were stolen, Yellowfang , ShadowClan's former medicine cat has agreed to stay in ThunderClan as their medicine cat." The clan screeched in horror and Fallowpelt looked to Firestorm as if questioning him if it was true. Firestorm gave her a slight nod in acknowledgement before returning his gaze to Goldenstar.

"What kind of Clan would support killing a medicine cat?" hissed Sootpelt, others growled behind him in agreement.

"I don't think they were aware that it had occurred they seemed as surprised that she was dead as we were." Firestorm explained as he looked at Goldenstar.

"Firestorm's right, the ShadowClan cats seemed aggrieved when they heard the news of her death, my guess is that the cat who stole their kits, killed her by Brokenstar's orders or because she got in the way." Silverwind meowed quietly. His words seemed to sooth the Clan's fury toward ShadowClan, but they still were greatly troubled by the news of Spottedleaf's death.

"I told ShadowClan that we would leave them in peace for this moon," Ashstorm told Goldenstar. She nodded her head in understanding.

"ShadowClan has suffered much these last few moons under Brokenstar's reign."

"ThunderClan has as well," spoke Fallowpelt, her eyes were glazed and unfocused.

"Indeed they have, we shall leave both Clans in peace for this moon. We will see how they are at the next gathering, for now let us thank StarClan that our kits are safe and for the patrol that saved them, we will eat in honor of them." Yowled Goldenstar, the Clan called back in answer. Firestorm yowled as well, but he wasn't feeling up for celebrating. He was worried about Scorchpaw; he didn't know how his friend was taking Spottedleaf's death. From the way his friend talked of her he had suspected that Scorchpaw had liked her, maybe more than a friend should, and he couldn't help but wonder how her death was affecting his friend. He cleared his mind of these thoughts as he felt soft fur brush his flank. He turned expecting to see dark blue eyes and soft white fur, but instead he saw sky blue eyes and light golden fur. He purred softly at the young she-cat.

"Hello Sunkit, how are you?" he asked softly.

"I'm fine; I was wondering if you were okay you seemed worried. Is it about Brokenstar?" she asked quietly. Firestorm paused and considered her question; it was a valid reason to be worried, since none of the patrol had any idea where Brokenstar and his elite warriors had gone.

"Yes I am a little worried about Brokenstar, we have no idea where he went he could still cause trouble." Firestorm answered finally feeling it was best not to mention his worries about Scorchpaw. Sunkit nodded her head and she paused suddenly. Firestorm noticed that it seemed like she wanted to tell him something; but before he could ask her, Redflower called her into the nursery. She meowed a quick goodbye and dashed into the nursery. Firestorm watched her go with curiosity. He then felt a paw prod his side and looked to see Dovefeather watching him with a quail in her jaws. She placed the quail on the ground.

"Hey, do you want to share this with me?" she asked, Firestorm nodded and picked up the quail carrying it over to where Longclaw, Runningstream and Ravenpaw were talking.

_Firestorm awoke to a paw prodding in his side; he growled softly a little, annoyed at being woken up. When he opened his eyes he came face to face with a beautiful dark tortoiseshell she-cat. He recognized her instantly._

"_Spottedleaf? B-but you can't be here, I thought you were…" Firestorm trailed off not wanting to speak the truth. She purred softly in amusement, but then took on a more serious look. She rose and headed out of the warrior's den. Firestorm was on his feet quickly and padded after her. As he stepped outside the warriors den, he expected to see the clearing; he was surprised to see unfamiliar surroundings._

_Suddenly he heard yowling and screeching and the scent of fear filled the air. Firestorm's eyes widened in horror as he listened to the yowls that seemed to come from all around him; the scent of fear began to mix with the scent of blood. Firestorm shut his eyes as he could almost feel the cats rushing around him in obvious pain and terror. His whole body tensed as the sound seemed to increase all around him._

_And then it stopped. Firestorm opened his eyes and before him stood a group of cats standing behind a blaze of fire; their eyes glowing eerily from the light. He suddenly felt Spottedleaf's presence behind him but couldn't take his eyes off the cats._

"_Fire alone will save our Clan" she whispered softly._

Firestorm jolted awake after feeling a paw jabbed into his side.

"Wake up you noisy fur ball, what were you dreaming about?" hissed Longclaw, Firestorm looked at him strangely; He recalled the dream and ominous yowling that filled the strange clearing.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because you were yowling like we were being attacked by ShadowClan, I wouldn't be surprised if you woke the entire Clan up. Firestorm flattened his ears and licked his chest a little in embarrassment.

"It was nothing; just a bad dream." Firestorm murmured.

"Well come on its time for the gathering." called Longclaw, as he headed out the warrior's den. Firestorm stretched out of his nest and followed quickly after his friend. He knew that this gathering would be important, it had been several days since the fight that had taken place in the ShadowClan camp and it would be the first time they had seen how ShadowClan was doing after evicting Brokenstar, it would also be the first time they would have to see if WindClan would come back to their territory. Goldenstar stood waiting at the entrance to camp with the other chosen cats to the gathering. Among them were: Longclaw, Runningstream, Dovefeather, Lightningstrike, Thrushfur, Silverwind, Sootpelt, Owltalon, Spiderfang, Fallowpelt and Ashstorm. Finchflight was left in charge of the camp in her absence. Once they were all assembled, Goldenstar led the group out of the camp.

By the time they reached Fourtrees the moon was higher in the sky, and currently RiverClan and ShadowClan were the only Clans present. Goldenstar crouched low looking down the slope at the present Clans, she then paused and turned to her present clanmates. She fixed a stern glare on them as she spoke.

"None of you will speak of Ravenpaw, Is that clear?" she hissed to them, the SkyClan cats looked puzzled at her and at one another, Firestorm watched her with curiosity. 'Does she know? Did Ravenpaw tell her?' he wonder remembering that Goldenstar had led Ravenpaw to the SkyClan camp by herself she could have easily spoken with him during that time. Without speaking another word, Goldenstar rose from her crouched position and led the Clan down the slope. Once they had reached the bottom the cats dispersed and began to speak with the other cats in the clearing. Firestorm looked around and recognized some of the ShadowClan cats in the clearing. He moved to talk to Wetfoot and ran into a cat. Firestorm looked into the eyes of a pretty silver tabby she-cat he had run into. The scent from her told him she was from RiverClan.

"Sorry I didn't see you" he meowed softly, she looked amused

"It's okay, just be more careful next time" she answered.

"My name is Firestorm, I'm from SkyClan, and you're from RiverClan right?"

"Yes, my name is Silverstream, if you'll excuse me I was on my way to speak with a Clanmate of mine" she told him

"Of course, it was nice meeting you Silverstream," Firestorm meowed.

"You as well" she replied as she made her way over to a gray she-cat.

"Wow, for a RiverClan cat, she was very easy on the eyes." murmured a voice behind him. Firestorm rolled his eyes at Longclaw.

"Don't let Goldenstar, here you say that." Firestorm murmured back as he padded off to speak with other cats. Longclaw shrugged

"I doubt she would mind, she didn't when Snowfall got pregnant." Firestorm whirled on his best friend, His eyes were wide.

"What do you mean? What happened with Snowfall?" But he didn't get his answer due to the arrival of ThunderClan. Thoughts of Snowfall faded from his mind as he caught sight of Scorchpaw. He was happy to see his friend made it to another gathering. Scorchpaw moved over to speak with him.

"Hello Firestorm, how are you?" asked Scorchpaw

"I'm well and yourself?"

"Yes I'm okay as well, in fact I'm a warrior now, and I'm now called Scorchblaze" he answered. Firestorm purred in excitement for his friend.

"Congratulations, I'm sure Yellowfang was thrilled," Firestorm meowed sarcastically.

"Of course I was, it's only right that I be proud of a cat I helped train to become a warrior." rasped a familiar old voice. Firestorm blinked teasingly at Yellowfang, he was happy to see the old she-cat.

"I never got the chance to so I'll say congratulations to you Firestorm for becoming a warrior, I trust Ravenpaw is well?" she spoke the words softly so only Scorchblaze, Firestorm and herself could hear them.

"Yes, he is, Goldenstar told the Clan not to speak of him here," Scorchblaze looked at him questioningly.

"Did he tell her? Or did you tell her?" Firestorm shrugged

"I haven't told her and Ravenpaw didn't tell me he told her, but maybe he was asked by Goldenstar not to tell me."

Suddenly a yowl came from the Great Rock telling the start of the gathering. Scorchblaze followed Firestorm and sat beside him as he sat beside Longclaw. Firestorm was surprised to see Nightpelt standing on the Great Rock with the other leaders and realized that ShadowClan must have chosen him to be their new leader. Bluestar stepped forward to address the cats below.

"ThunderClan has welcomed Yellowfang as our new medicine cat." She meowed giving a pause while the other cats turned to look at Yellowfang. Firestorm was a little amused that Yellowfang looked a little uncomfortable under the gaze of the other cats, but she kept her head up and met the gaze of every cat that looked at her directly.

"We also have two new warriors in our ranks, Scorchblaze and Graystripe." Bluestar continued. The cats all turned to see the two warriors and yowled in congratulations. Scorchblaze kept his head high, and met every cats gaze; Firestorm could see the fur along his spine tingle with uneasiness. Once they had turned back to Bluestar, she quickly told the cats about ThunderClan's newest apprentice and how well ThunderClan was fairing, and then backed up so that Goldenstar could take her place.

"SkyClan is proud to announce that we have five new warriors in our ranks: Lightningstrike, Runningstream, Dovefeather, Firestorm and Longclaw" Once more the clearing was filled with yowls of congratulations as the cats turned to get a good look at the new warriors. Firestorm could see Lightningstrike puff up his chest arrogantly. Scorchblaze snort at the display.

"He acts like he StarClan's gift to she-cats and his Clan." He muttered. Firestorm purred in amusement and nodded in agreement.

"Everyone knows I'm StarClan's gift to she-cats." Murmured Longclaw, Scorchblaze choked back his laughter. Sootpelt turned and looked back at them.

"Shh, the leaders are speaking." He hissed turning and facing forward. Turning their attention back to the Great Rock they saw that Nightpelt had taken Goldenstar's place. Nightpelt told the Clans about ShadowClan driving out Brokenstar and that he had not yet been given his nine lives, but was to travel in the morning to highstones, before he let Crookedstar take his place.

"We are all pleased to hear that Brokenstar is no longer a threat to the forest and RiverClan no longer have to share our prey with ShadowClan." Crookedstar meowed, RiverClan cats responded with loud cheers and happiness, but the ShadowClan cats including Nightpelt all looked very displeased.

"ShadowClan still has a lot of mouths to feed" meowed Nightpelt turning to look at Crookedstar, who was beginning to look frustrated, to speak directly to him. "The deal that was made was for all of ShadowClan, not just Brokenstar" meowed Nightpelt. Crookedstar's growl could barely be heard above the murmurs from the cats below. Firestorm glanced around and saw that the ShadowClan cats were beginning to flex their claws and glare at RiverClan cats whose fur was beginning to rise along their spines. Crookedstar growled lowly and Nightpelt began to flex his claws. Fireheart watched in surprise as Bluestar stepped between the two leaders. She reminded them both that ShadowClan had less mouths to feed and that Nightpelt had yet to receive his nine lives and asked the ShadowClan leader if he really wanted to make these claims on RiverClan's land when he didn't have nine lives to back him. Both leaders begrudgingly backed down afterward.

"We don't need RiverClan's fish we have the uplands to hunt in now that WindClan is gone." Crookedstar nodded in agreement. Bluestar shook her head and proclaimed so all cats could hear

"WindClan must return for the good of all Clans." meowed Bluestar, as she looked at both Clan leaders.

"Why must they return that couldn't defend their own territory." hissed a voice from ShadowClan. Firestorm looked and saw the formidable dark tabby pelt of Tigerclaw as he stood and faced every cat giving them a hard stare.

"Bluestar, is right WindClan must return." He meowed loudly. Goldenstar stood to stand beside Bluestar.

"I agree with Bluestar, WindClan must return." She called to the cats below. Firestorm looked curiously at Bluestar and Goldenstar and wondered what they would do to convince the other leaders that WindClan has to return. He watched in bated breath as both leaders seemed to have turned their hostility at the SkyClan and ThunderClan leaders. He was surprised that they paid no heed to their anger. Goldenstar turned to address Nightpelt

"Nightpelt, Brokenstar drove out WindClan and ThunderClan along with SkyClan had to assist you in driving him out we, know you and your clan has suffered an that is why we have left you in peace." She meowed calmly. Bluestar then spoke to Crookedstar.

"Your Clan has always been well off with the fish in the river, why do you need the uplands?" she asked calmly. Crookedstar wouldn't face her. Nightpelt stared at her for a long time before sighing and agree with them.

"Very well then WindClan will be found." Bluestar meowed before ending the meeting. She turned and spoke with Goldenstar briefly before jumping down to collect her Clanmates. Longclaw murmured to Firestorm that he was going to find Runningstream and Dovefeather, and then disappeared into the sea of cats.

Firestorm looked back up toward the Great Rock where the other leaders were still standing. He noticed the looks that Nightpelt and Crookedstar seemed to share. ' Nightpelt doesn't appear to agree with Bluestar after all.' He thought to himself before glancing over at Scorchblaze who seemed to have noticed the exchange also.

"Do you think they'll let WindClan return to the forest?" Scorchblaze asked softly.

"We won't know for sure until their found." Firestorm answered back. He was about to say goodbye to his friend when the familiar face of Graystripe appeared.

"Hey Firestorm, did you enjoy the gathering?" meowed the newly made gray warrior.

"Yeah it was interesting, congratulations on becoming a warrior Graystripe."

"And you as well, we should probably go now, Bluestar's waiting on us," Graystripe replied.

"Yeah I need to get going to, I guess I'll see you at the next gathering." He waved them goodbye with his tail then raced over to join is clanmates beside Goldenstar. Longclaw came over to him with Dovefeather and Runningstream behind him

"There you are I was looking for you during the gathering" Dovefeather purred softly.

"Yeah I was sitting with some cats I knew in ThunderClan." He explained to her.

"Oh I see; what are your thoughts on WindClan returning to the forest?" she asked

"I'm wondering if Nightpelt and Crookedstar will let WindClan return, they seemed like they were planning something." Firestorm explained

"Well we have ThunderClan on our side, if they decided to attack us." Longclaw pointed out.

"But, ThunderClan has already had several losses already do you think they would be willing to risk starting a battle with RiverClan and ShadowClan even with our support." questioned Runningstream. Silence met her answer. As they continued on toward the camp, his mind was brought back to his dream of the group of cats standing near the fire. 'Could those cats in my dream have been WindClan? Could they be the fire to save the Clans?'

Okay I know this took forever and I'm sorry for that

I have a new dilemma though

Who should be Firestorm's apprentice?

Leafkit or Sunkit?

I'll let you decide who gets the privilege. The reason why I ask is because I have to morph the story around who becomes his apprentice so choose carefully.

Review and let me know what you think.


	15. Chapter 15

I have a new poll in my profile for Ravenpaw, what do you want his warrior name to be?

Chapter 15

Firestorm stretched out of his nest and padded out of the warriors' den and into the clearing. He headed for the fresh-kill pile, but was stopped by a voice calling out to him. He looked and saw Goldenstar standing outside her nest.

"Come here Firestorm I need to speak with you." she called to him. Firestorm padded over to the leader's den and into her den. When he entered her den he saw Silverwind waiting along with Goldenstar. Firestorm looked questioningly at them both. Goldenstar decided to speak.

"If you recall from the gathering the previous night the decision was made to find WindClan and return them to the forest," she paused briefly to gather her thoughts. "I've have chosen the two of you to undertake this mission." Firestorm's eyes were wide with shock.

"We're going to find WindClan by ourselves?" Firestorm asked

"No, you won't be alone, Bluestar agreed to send two of her own warriors to accompany you on the search. This will be a dangerous mission and you will need to work well with those warriors if you are to succeed." Goldenstar sighed softly. "I would send more warriors but, Nightpelt and Crookedstar made it clear they weren't happy with the decision to bring them back, I sense rough times ahead, and we must be ready." Firestorm nodded in understanding while glancing at Silverwind. The silver tabby tom had been silently listening to all Goldenstar had to say.

"Where are we supposed to meet these warriors?" SIlverwind's deep voice meowed softly.

"At Fourtrees, we agreed that it was neutral ground and that it wouldn't cause problems if you met there." Goldenstar explained. "Now you both should see Fallowpelt , she will give you traveling herbs to help give you energy for the journey. "

"Very well," spoke Silverwind. "We'll do our best."

"Yes, but be cautious you may run into ShadowClan while you're traveling there. Do you remember how to get to WindClan's territory?" she asked. Firestorm nodded he vaguely remembered traveling through their territory to reach Highstones where he moonstone was during his apprenticeship, he hadn't been a part of SkyClan for very long at the time and the sight of the moonstone had amazed him.

"Yes I remember, "Spoke Firestorm

"I do as well," Silverwind meowed smoothly.

"Silverwind do you remember WindClan scent?" She asked

"Yes I do, I'll make sure Firestorm learns their scent as well." Silverwind promised. Firestorm blinked slowly as he realized he had never seen a WindClan cat before and didn't really remember their scent , it had been covered by ShadowClan's scent when he had travelled with Goldenstar and he wondered if that had occurred not long after Brokenstar drove out WindClan.

"Very well, take care both of you, and remember to watch out for Nightpelt, he is supposed to be traveling to Highstones today." She reminded them. "Good luck" and with that dismissed them from her den. Silverwind lead Firestorm toward Fallowpelt's den, as they approached Fallowpelt emerged from her den with bundles of herbs that she placed at their feet.

"Here these will give you both strength, you'll need it; I put a little extra in their since you'll be traveling through ThunderClan's and WindClan's territories and who knows how long you have to travel to find WindClan." She meowed softly. The two nodded in understanding and began to eat the herbs. Firestorm was prepared for the bitter taste of herbs to fill his mouth, but was surprised to taste the sweet taste of honey and dewberry overriding the bitter taste of the herbs. As Firestorm finished his last mouthful, Fallowpelt lent over him and murmured into his ear.

"Take care and return safely." She meowed softly. Firestorm watched as she headed back into her den. Firestorm was surprised by her remark; the medicine cat had been a bit subdued since she heard of Spottedleaf's death and he wondered how close the two had been. Firestorm felt a tail brush over his ears and turned to see that Silverwind had finished his herbs and was watching him expectantly.

"It's time to go," he meowed softly. Firestorm nodded, but froze as he realized he hadn't said goodbye to his friends.

"Can I say goodbye to my friends first?"

"There isn't time, we have to meet the ThunderClan cats as well and we have further to travel." Silverwind explained, but looked sympathetically at Firestorm. "They'll understand Firestorm, but we must leave now while the herbs give us strength." With that said he turned and dashed toward the entrance. Firestorm raced after him, a sudden feeling over took him as he reached the entrance causing him to look back. He saw Sunkit watching him with sad fearful eyes. He hesitated wanting to comfort her, but knew he had to catch up with Silverwind. He waved his tail at her and gave a reassuring glance at her before chasing after Silverwind.

The two SkyClan warriors made it to fourtrees just before sunhigh. As they entered the clearing Firestorm made out the familiar pelts of Scorchblaze and Graystripe. Firestrom was immediately filled with excitement at seeing his friend, but tried to keep his enthusiasm subdued. Scorchpaw seemed to be doing the same, as the black and white warrior nodded respectively at the approaching SkyClan cats.

"Greetings, I'm Silverwind and this is Firestorm," spoke the silver warrior

"Greetings, I'm Scorchblaze and this is Graystripe." Scorchblaze returned.

"Yes I remember you from the Gathering and the fight with ShadowClan, I'm surprised Bluestar has put her newest warrior's on this mission." Silverwind replied. Scorchblaze seemed almost offended by the statement, but Silverwind quickly clarified. "She must have a lot of trust in you both."

"She does," Scorchblaze answered,

"I suppose we should get going." Graystripe spoke up "We have a lot of area to cover since we have no idea where WindClan have gone.

"I think we should start at their camp, we might at least get an idea of what direction they went." Firestorm explained. Silverwind nodded in agreement.

"It's a good place to start, any objections?" asked Silverwind, The two ThunderClan warriors shook their heads. "Very well let's go then." He took the lead heading toward WindClan territory. Firestorm, Scorchblaze and Graystripe, fell in step behind him.

As they traveled through the moorland, Firestorm kept staring curiously at Silverwind. Scorchblaze noticed and immediately began to pester him about it.

"What's up why are you staring at Silverwind like he's grown two heads?" Scorchblaze hissed in his ear.

"It's just that I've never heard Silverwind speak as much as he has today, he's usually the strong silent type" Firestorm explained quietly "I guess I'm not used to hearing him talk."

Suddenly Silverwind froze and seemed to look around. He then crouched down low to the ground, the others mimicked his movements the heather that surrounded them keeping them hidden.

"RiverClan, are here" he hissed under his breath. Firestorm looked alarmed as did the ThunderClan warriors.

"What are they doing here?" Scorchblaze breathed

"Obviously their hunting, I guess Crookedstar decided to catch as much prey as they can before WindClan return."Graystripe guessed

"How far are they from us? Can they scent us?" asked Firestorm quietly. Graystripe peeked over the bushes.

"I can see them they're hunting," Graystripe murmured, the other warriors peered over the gorse bushes, Firestorm could see four RiverClan warriors chasing a rabbit through the gorse. He recognized Blackclaw and another warrior called Reedtail the other two warriors Firestorm hadn't seen before.

"They should stick to catching fish," murmured Silverwind. As the three were deciding what to do they could hear the footsteps of the RiverClan hunting party heading in their direction.

"Over here," hissed Graystripe quietly, leading them to an abandon badger set.

"Yuck, it stinks in here," hissed Scorchblaze irritably "There's four of them and four of us, why can't we just chase them off?"

"One this isn't our territory, two it's not our mission, we are to bring back WindClan, not protect their land and three we are from different clans RiverClan might believe we have formed an alliance against them."Silverwind hissed sharply "Now be quiet their almost here" Scorchblaze looked like he wanted to say something, but stopped when he heard the RiverClan cats approach.

"Badger set, "rasped the voice of Blackclaw.

"Is it abandoned? The rabbit may have run in there" meowed another warrior." The hiding group tensed and flexed their claws preparing to fight for themselves.

"No the scent is this way," called the voice of Reedtail, the footsteps took off after the rabbit leaving the old badger set behind." Silverwind crept forward to the entrance and cautiously peered out.

"They're gone, we should get moving," he meowed, and led the group out of the den.

"That was close we need to remember to watch for RiverClan,"meowed Graystripe

"And ShadowClan too, don't forget they've been using these grounds, for hunting also and Nightpelt is supposed to travel to highstones to receive his nine lives." Firestorm added quietly.

The group continued on through the heather following Silverwind's lead, he was the only one of them who had been to the camp before, he had assisted Fallowpelt in an herb exchange with the WindClan medicine cat Barkface.

They soon reached the camp, the camp was in a plateau where gorse grew on either side of the plateau, it was filled with the scents of old cats, young cats, male cats and female cats, there was a faint odor of crowfood. The group plunged down the slope and started to push their way through the gorse to try and get into the camp.

They soon entered the clearing none the worse for wear and looked around. Firestorm took in the sight of the camp and the faint scent of fear and blood that hung in the air of the abandoned camp.

"I can't believe Brokenstar drove them out of this place, I mean just trying to get in here the way we did nearly took my whole pelt off." Meowed Graystripe.

"They put up a fight though," Firestorm pointed out, as he looked at the clumps of fur and the dried blood that stained the ground.

"Come, we must find the scent trail that leads out of here, hopefully we can determine which direction WindClan traveled." Meowed Silverwind as he lowered his head and began to look for a scent trail, the others bow their heads to do the same. They spread out and kept an eye on each other as they searched for a scent trail. Firestorm picked up a scent which lead him to a gap in the gorse. He called out to the others who bounded over to him. He squeezed through the gap and caught a clearer scent trail.

"Look there," meowed Silverwind as he examined some dried drops of blood on the ground. "They were headed in this direction."

The trail led them to the end of the uplands where the land would slope and turn into farmland. The group could see Highstones in the distance.

"I wonder if Nightpelt reached Highstones?" asked Firestorm curiously.

"Well let's hope he isn't down there," Scorchblaze hissed as he looked down at the farmland, "With all the dogs, twolegs and monsters we'll have to dodge we don't need to see him too."

"Come on we should get going we're losing daylight," meowed Silverwind once more taking the lead. Scorchblaze snorted quietly and padded beside Firestorm.

"Who put him in charge?" he muttered quietly, Firestorm looked at his friend

"Silverwind has been a warrior longer then we have, so he has more experience and he is a pretty good tracker, not the best in SkyClan but he is better than most." Replied Firestorm,

"I suppose but it would be nice if we made decisions as a group instead of him making decisions for us." Hissed Scorchpaw.

The group continued on following the scent trail through a wide grassy field, through a twoleg path pass a farm that housed a loner who went by the name of Barley, the tom didn't make an appearance, until they reached a hedge that sat beside the Thunderpath. They searched around the area and concluded that WIndClan had crossed the Thunderpath.

"We'll have to cross here," meowed Silverwind. "We should cross in pairs, I'll go with Firestorm and you two can cross together." Neither Graystripe nor Scorchblaze protested as Silverwind took his position near the Thunderpath, he turned and beckoned Firestorm over with his tail. The two looked both ways before racing over to the grass on the other side of the Thunderpath. Graystripe and Scorchblaze were beside them a short moment later. They searched around for a scent of WindClan and found it in the open field ahead of them. They noticed a bunch of Thunderpaths one stood high above them with another Thunderpath underneath it.

After having to cross the Thunderpath, the group was more than a little exhausted, they decided to find a place to rest, but the suddenly came across a fresh WindClan marker.

"It's them, they must have settled nearby here," meowed Scorchblaze.

"I guess they figured not even Brokenstar would come here," meowed Firestorm as he looked around.

"We should probably wait until daylight to approach them, if we did in the dark they might not be trusting to us." Meowed Silverwind.

"So we can rest now?" sighed Graystripe.

"Yes just till daylight, then we'll search them out." Answered Silverwind. The group found a tunnel to shelter in that seemed to be located under the Thunderpath. The group was a little restless with the sounds of the Thunderpath above them and being in unfamiliar territory but eventually they fell to sleep. Firestorm was up first just as dawn was approaching. He woke Scorchblaze up then proceeded to wake Silverwind. Once everyone was awake they silently headed down through the tunnel that went under the Thunderpath.

Darkness surrounded them the entire as they walked, until they reached the other end where the grass dirty and barren. They saw a Thunderpath that loomed above them and two thunderpaths on either side of them. They saw a fire in the center of the grass, where some Twolegs were laying around it. Firestorm peered for carefully and was shocked when he caught sight of cats near the fire. 'Is it WindClan have we found them?' he thought as he stared at the cats that stood near the fire.

"That must be them," breathed Scorchblaze, as he looked at the cats. Firestorm's mind began to wander to his dream of cats surrounded by fire and wondered if WindClan was to save the Clans.

"Yes, it's WindClan" meowed Silverwind as he looked at the other cats. Suddenly a twoleg was roused from slumber and began to shout at the cats near the fire. The cats took off running and the four travelers took off after them. The followed the cats to another tunnel which the WindClan cats disappeared into.

"Let's go, we need to catch up with them," meowed Silverwind as he took the lead into the tunnel. Firestorm entered behind him, with Scorchblaze following and Graystripe bringing up the rear. The floor was damp and slimy and the air was bitter, it was too dark to see anything. Then Firestorm's whiskers picked up a change in direction, which Silverwind must have picked up on since he stopped Firestorm with a touch of his tail, which Firestorm mimicked to Scorchblaze. Once they had all stopped they carefully moved so they could peer around the corner. They could see pitifully thin elder's queens and kits all huddled together in the poorly lit tunnel. Silverwind glanced at the others who all nodded and he took a few steps into the light, Firestorm followed him. One of the WindClan warriors sounded the alarm at the sight of the intruders and one by one the warriors lined up to defend the queens, kits and elders hissing fiercely with their backs arched. Scorchblaze and Graystripe had joined them and were trying not to look like a threat. Firestorm was waiting to see if these cats would attack them, but realized they were waiting for Tallstar's command. An old black and white tom approached them looking curiously at them as he examined their scent. A flicker of recognition flicker across his gaze as his eyes landed on Silverwind.

"It is SkyClan and ThunderClan," meowed Tallstar to his warriors who relaxed a bit but didn't move from their defensive line. "What brings you here Silverwind and these ThunderClan cats with you are?" he asked as he surveyed the other cats in their little group.

"This is Firestorm he is from SkyClan and these cats are Graystripe and Scorchblaze they are from ThunderClan. " Silverwind meowed pointing out each cat. "We were sent here by our leaders to bring you home."

"Our home is lost to us, ShadowClan has driven us from our home." He meowed solemnly.

"Brokenstar is no longer the leader of ShadowClan he was driven out by ShadowClan and the other Clans agreed to find you and bring you all home." Firestorm explained. The WindClan cats began to murmur with excitement at sound of Brokenstar's departure from ShadowClan.

"I see, then we shall return," Tallstar turned and looked to a long legged black tom who bore one twisted paw. "Deadfoot are we fit for travel?"

"All except Morningflower's kit." He reported

"Then he must be carried," meowed Tallstar. Firestorm looked at all the cats and could see just how weak they all were and knew they would need some help.

"May we travel with you?" asked Firestorm carefully knowing he couldn't out right ask them if they needed help. Tallstar recognized the question for what it was and dipped his head respectively

"Yes, you may and thank you." Tallstar murmured quietly. Silverwind nodded and acknowledged Firestorm's suggestion. Tallstar looked back to the Clan, "Are we ready,"

"Ready," called Deadfoot after he had looked at all the cats present.

"Then let's go"

Okay I'm stopping here for now

So what do you think? Send me a review the apprentice thing will hopefully come in the next chapter. Until then you can keep telling me who you want Firestorm's apprentice to be.

Also I mentioned earlier that some of the modern day skyclan cats will make an appearance in this story but I also said that they might not be the same as they are in the books and I mentioned why I changed Fireheart's name

and now I'm wondering do you want me to give modern skyclan cats their warrior names from the books or new ones technically they are in the same clan but a different cat gave them their warrior names so do you want me to keep their names or not example: Leafkit will be Leafdapple unless you want me to give her a different name I can if you want I like their original names except most of the day-light warriors but they won't appear in this story anyway since this is based off Firestar's Quest I have names lined up for them whether their good or not I don't know but like I said I like their real names so I don't know.

Also don't forget to vote for Ravenpaw's warrior name in my profile you still have a few chapters before that will come up so vote it will be open until the chapter is up which I have no clue when that will be so you have time. I have a bunch of names chosen and there is an option for you to give me a name ONE name that hasn't already been put in the poll you can have up to 5 choices for a name so look through them carefully.

Review song time:

Come on readers come on and review

I won't know, if I don't have a revieeew

Don't know if I'm getting better

Might as well have knit a sweater

I can't fix it if I don't have a review.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Yeah new Chapter done don't forget to vote for Ravenpaw's warrior name do it.

I will say that these particular names are in the top 5

Tied for 5th: Ravenstorm, Ravenwind, Ravenlight, Ravenmist, Ravenpelt, Raventail, Ravenfoot

Tied for 4th: Ravenheart, Ravenspirit, Ravenclaw

In 3rd place: Ravenwing

In 2nd place: Ravenfeather

And In 1st place: Ravenflight

This isn't the official name yet the voting is still going on. I just wanted to let people know how names stack up right now. There are still other names that haven't quite made it to the top 5. Remember you have up to 5 choices.

Chapter 16

Firestorm watched as the WindClan warriors trudged slowly forward. They had just left the drainage pipe and were headed back the way the four had come earlier. Silverwind was leading the large group back since Silverwind had pointed out to Tallstar that it was a faster way then the way WindClan had come. Scorchblaze and Graystripe were assisting any cats that might be having trouble particularly the elders, whom were among the weaker cats who trailed from the back of the group. Firestorm was keeping a close eye on a WindClan queen named Morningflower, she had one tiny little kit, who wasn't very old. He wasn't big enough to walk the distance back to WindClan's territory and the queen herself seemed to be struggling to carry him in her own weak state. Firestorm was sure if he should approach her or not about carrying her kit for her. After a short debate in his mind he approached the queen.

"Let me carry him for you," he asked her gently. "I'll walk right beside you so that you can see him." She seemed wary of him at first and Firestorm was beginning to think she wouldn't let him carry her kit, so he was surprised that she set the kit down so that Firestorm could pick him up. Firestorm quickly picked the little bundle of fur from the ground gently and walked alongside Morningflower so that her precious kit was always within sight.

Silverwind had finally brought the group to the Thunderpath that would lead them back to forest and WindClan's territory. Firestorm gave the kit back to Morningflower, who brushed her cheek against his own gratefully, to speak with Tallstar, Silverwind, Graystripe, Scorchblaze and a few other WindClan cats. Once he was close enough Silverwind turned his attention to him.

"Firestorm we've decided that will cross the Thunderpath in groups, You, Scorchblaze, Graystripe and I will stay with any who need help crossing. With Tallstar's approval of course." He added briskly.

"Of course, the strongest group will go first." He called to the Clan. A young tom named Onewhisker was leading them across. He could smell the young tom's fear and asked if he wished for Firestorm to cross with them. Onewhisker politely declined. He stepped forward with the rest of his group moving closely behind him. Once all was quiet they raced over and made it to the otherside safely. Two warriors and a pair of elders came next, once Graystripe had called an all clear. They moved as quickly as they could to the other side just barely missing a monster as it raced up the Thunderpath. Two larger groups crossed without incident. There was only one more group to cross, Morningflower, with her kit and three elders. Silverwind, Scorchblaze and Graystripe agreed to cross the Thunderpath with them. Silverwind told Graystripe to tell them when it was safe to cross. Moments later Graystripe yowled a signal and the group started forward. The elders moved slowly on their paws. They did their best to help the elder's forward but they could hear a monster coming. Firestorm broke away from the elders and came up to Morningflower.

"Go on ahead, will bring the elders" he told her quickly. Morningflower moved a bit faster. Silverwind grasped an elder by the scruff and dragged him forward to the verge. Scorchblaze pulled another closer to the verge. Firestorm had pulled another forward and had crouched to brace himself. He felt another pelt pressing against his own, but he didn't open his eyes. An acrid odor filled the air as the monster raced passed them all. Firestorm opened his eyes and saw that Silverwind had come back to him and was pressing his pelt against his side. Firestorm saw that Graystripe was crouched wide eyed on the Thunderpath and the two other elders were crouched shaking wildly with Scorchblaze crouched between them. 'Thank StarClan' Firestorm thought as he looked around realizing that the twoleg monster had missed them all. Firestorm began to nudge the other elder forward and Graystripe helped him.

Soon they had all crossed over safely to the other side, Tallstar and Deadfoot followed after them. Onewhisker came up to Firestorm and pressed his nose to Firestorm's.

"You would have given your life for us, we will forever be grateful to you all." Onewhisker meowed warmly. Taallstar padded up to them and meowed an agreement.

"Yes you all will be honored in our stories for seasons to come," Tallstar meowed humbly. "But now we must keep going, I fear it will rain soon." With that said they started forward once more. Firestorm found Morningflower and carried her kit for her. As they trudged onward and the sky began to get darker. Silverwind moved to speak to Tallstar telling him that they would need to stop soon for a rest.

They suddenly came upon a twoleg farm, it was getting close to dusk and all the cats were tired. Firestorm was beginning to wonder if there would be somewhere safe they could rest for the night. Suddenly a black and white tom approached them suddenly. Silverwind, Graystripe, and Scorchblaze greeted the tom with familiarity. After talking with the tom briefly, Silverwind went to speak with Tallstar. Firestorm came up to stand next to Scorchblaze and looked questioningly at him. Scorchblaze purred and gestured toward the unfamiliar tom with his tail.

"Firestorm, this is Barley, he's a loner that lives in that twoleg barn over there." Scorchblaze explained, "He's agreed to let us stay there the night since the twolegs around here let their dogs off leash at night." Firestorm recognized the name Scorchblaze had spoken, When Goldenstar had taken him to see the moonstone for the first time she had told him about a loner named Barley who lived in the Twoleg barn, He hadn't gotten the chance to meet the tom then, so he was surprised to meet him now.

"It's nice to meet you Barley," meowed Firestorm, "Goldenstar told me a little about you."

"It's nice to meet you as well, Goldenstar is a good friend, and I trust she's doing well?" he asked casually. Firestorm nodded

"She is" Barley purred

"I'm glad, well bring WindClan into my barn there is plenty of prey and it's nice and warm they can continue home at dawn," Just as he fininshed speaking Tallstar had begun to lead his Clan into the barn. Some of the older cats were hesitant to step foot into the barn. After much protest the cats reluctantly entered the barn. WindClan settled into the straw that littered the floor. Some cats immediately went to sleep, while others looked around checking for any danger. Barley took a look around the barn once all cats were settled and gave a nod to Firestorm, Scorchblaze and Graystripe.

"I have some rat hunting to do, but feel free to eat and rest, Goodnight," he meowed as he took off out of the barn and the three answered him with their own goodbye, before looking around wondering what they should do next. Suddenly Onewhisker, Deadfoot and Tallstar along with Silverwind and a warrior named Mudclaw approached them.

"We should hunt, the scent of mice is everywhere," meowed Mudclaw

"Not everyone is strong enough to hunt now, it's been a long and exhausting day." Onewhisker commented.

"We could hunt," Graystripe offered, "If we work together we could probably catch enough to feed everyone."

"The mice I've seen so far are plump and easy to catch I don't think it will take us long." Firestorm added in.

"I agree lets split up and catch as much prey as possible, we'll meet back here." Tallstar meowed as he disappeared behind some haystacks. They split up and started searching. Firestorm sniffed around and spotted a plump mouse distracted by eating some seed. Firestorm crouched down into a hunting position and crept forward slowly and in an instant pounced onto its back sinking its teeth into its neck, it was killed with a swish of his tail.

Moments later Firestorm was carrying five plump mice and a sparrow that had flown into the barn, back to the spot where they were supposed to meet up. When he got there he found that some of the others had returned. Silverwind had caught four mice and had put them in pile, Graystripe had caught six mice to give to the pile. Scorchblaze had brought back five mice, Deadfoot returned with four mice to add to the pile, Onewhisker had brought five mice to give to the pile, Tallstar had brought three mice to the pile. Mudclaw brought another four mice into the fresh-kill pile. The cats had their fill of prey and started to settle down for rest.

"We should take turns keeping watch, who wants to start the first shift?" asked Tallstar.

"I'll stand watch first, everyone else can get some sleep," Silverwind volunteered. With that said the others started to settle down to sleep. Firestorm hesitated and looked at Silverwind.

"Are you sure you want first shift? I can stay up with you" Firestorm offered, Silverwind purred and shook his head,

"There's no need, I'll be find go ahead and get some rest." He meowed lowly. Firestorm hesitated a moment more before relenting and finding a spot to sleep comfortably in.

Firestorm awoke to a paw prodding his side, and he opened a bright emerald eye to Silverwind, Firestorm stretched out of his makeshift nest, feeling his spine ripple.

"Is it my turn for the shift?" he asked with a yawn, Silverwind shook his head

"No it's time to get going," That jolted Firestorm awake. Had he slept through his shift? Had he been that tired? His face must have given away what he was thinking since Silverwind wore a look of amusement on his face.

"No you didn't oversleep, Barley came back and offered to stand watch all night for us and sent me to rest with everyone else." Firestorm felt relieved and looked around to see other cats starting to wake up. He walked outside and looked up into the sky. A brown tom with a short tail came to sit beside him. The tom looked up into the sky and suddenly let out a loud screech of horror. The other WindClan cats came out to see what was wrong.

"What is it Barkface?" asked Morningflower anxiously "Is it a sign from StarClan?" Firestorm then realized that this tom must be the WindClan medicine cat and he began to fill dread as he saw the tom's bristling pelt.

"The clouds are covered in blood, our ancestors have spoken," he rasped "There will be an unnecessary death today"

They were on their way once more despite Barkface's ominous words, Tallstar led the way through the chilly morning air. Firestorm heard Silverwind speak casually to Tallstar.

"Shall we scout ahead?" he asked

"Yes, let me know if you see any dog, rats or twolegs." He meowed "my Clan is stronger but not enough to deal with a dog." Silverwind nodded and beckoned Firestorm forward, Firestorm chased after Silverwind as they shot ahead of the others they looked around for any danger, satisfied that there wasn't any and reported as much back to Tallstar.

Once sunhigh had approached the sky began to fill with dark clouds and rain began to fall. Firestorm and Silverwind had raced ahead once more to check for danger when the ground began to slope upward and Firestorm realized that they were entering WindClan hunting grounds. Firestorm turned back to let the others know they were nearly there. When he heard some pawsteps coming quickly and found it was Deadfoot with some of the WindClan warriors. Firestorm showed them they through the hedgegrow and sprinted close behind the last cat as they all began to pick up speed knowing exactly where they were. Firestorm shared a look with Graystripe and Scorchblaze none of them spoke, they could feel WindClan's excitement stirring within them. Even the elders were moving fast.

Before long they had made it to the dip in the ground that concealed the WindClan camp. Morningflower surge toward the camp with her kit in her mouth, Tallstar sent three warriors to escort her into the camp. The rest of the camp followed suit.

"I cannot thank you and your Clan's enough for what you have done for us." Tallstar told them with a respectable nod. "I'll send you an escort to make sure you all make it safely back to your territories."

"That's not necessary Tallstar, I'm sure we can manage." Silverwind spoke up.

"I insist, Deadfoot, Onewhisker," The WIndClan leader called. "Escort them back to their territories." The two warriors nodded and lead the four through their territory. As they walked Scorchblaze suggested they travel through the way closer to the gorge. Silverwind argued that it wouldn't be a good place to travel since it was RiverClan territory, but Scorchblaze countered that the other Clans knew about the mission to bring back WindClan, and that they shouldn't attack them because they were just heading home. After much debating everyone decided to Scorchblaze's way feeling it would be faster.

They were close to the ThunderClan border when the overwhelming scent of RiverClan assaulted their nostrils they knew it was a patrol and to their dismay it was led by the newest RiverClan deputy Leopardfur. Firestorm heard Silverwind curse under his breath, this is exactly the situation that they wanted to avoid. Within an instant the patrol was upon them and a fight ensued.

Firestorm raked his claws through the pelt of a large brown tom, he kicked and scratched furiously trying to get free of the tom. He twisted his body and sank his teeth deeply into the cat. The cat yowled louder but continued to batter him with his claws.

"You won't set foot in our territory ever again." Hissed the tom, Firestorm could see the others having a tough time. Even though it was an equal match up in numbers, the WindClan warriors still weren't at full strength yet. Suddenly a loud yowl broke through the air and the scent of ThunderClan increased. 'A patrol,' Firestorm thought as he battled more fiercely with the tom he was pinned under. He could make out the familiar pelt of Tigerclaw, Willowpelt, Whitestorm and Sandpaw. The ginger she-cat, who Firestorm recognized as Sandpaw, knocked the tom over, who he was battling and started to roll with him close to the edge. Firestorm raced forward and pulled the two apart flinging the tom away and Scorchblaze caught the ginger she-cat by the scruff. She hissed at him in annoyance.

"I can fight my own battles," she hissed at him, he was going to explain when a horrifying yowl reached their ears, making them turn their attention elsewhere. They spotted Graystripe straining to reach a paw that was struggling to cling onto the rock. Graystripe wailed in horror as the paw disappeared before he could reach it stopping the fight as the cats stopped fighting to see what had occurred. Firestorm thought back to what Barkface had said earlier. 'There will be an unnecessary death today,' Firestorm saw that Scorchblaze seemed to be thinking the same thing, for he wore a look of guilt on his face. Sandpaw wore a look of horror on her face as she know seemed to understand that she had come close to the same fate.

"This has gone far beyond a border fight." Leopardfur murmured to Tigerclaw, "We will settle this elsewhere at a different time and by different means," with that said she led her cats back toward their camp. Tigerclaw nodded in acknowledgement and watched her go. Deadfoot then took the moment to speak up.

"We should head home know, your warriors served us well, as did SkyClan I ask you pass on our thanks to Goldenstar as well as Bluestar." Tigerclaw nodded and the two warriors head back toward their own territory.

"Everyone follow me that includes the two of you, Bluestar wishes to speak to you both." Tigerclaw meowed looking at Firestorm and Silverwind. Firestorm began to follow behinsd the rest of the patrol, with Silverwind walking beside him. Firestorm snuck worried glances at Graystripe wondering if the gray warrior would be alright. He could tell Graystripe was beating himself up over the RiverClan cat and that had died. He sighed and looked at Scorchblaze who wore a look of guilt. He had been the one to insist going that route through RiverClan territory. He wanted to go and comfort his friend but knew it wasn't an appropriate time to do it. He continued onward wondering what Bluestar wanted with them.

It wasn't long till they reached the ThunderClan camp, it didn't seem to have changed much since his last visit there. He saw Yellowfang out of the corner of his eye as he made his way to Bluestar's den, he remembered that she had taken Spottedleaf's place as medicine cat and wondered how ThunderClan was taking it. He didn't have long to think on it before he was in Bluestar's presence.

"It's good to see you all made it back safety. But what has happened?" Bluestar asked solemnly. Tigerclaw told her all about the fight on the gorge. Bluestar's face turned grave. Scorchblaze sighed and spoke up.

"It's my fault I suggested we go that way," Firestorm was going to protest but Graystripe beat him to it.

"We all agreed to go that way," Graystripe spoke clearly but with some sadness in his voice. Silverwind shook his head.

"I should have insisted we go a different way." He spoke softly. Bluestar rasied her tail in silence.

"It will be dealt with, Tigerclaw let our guest have some fresh-kill before sending them on their way." Bluestar told him. Silverwind spoke up again.

"We couldn't impose on you any longer then we already have, besides we should report what has happened to Goldenstar." Silverwind spoke without a trace of insult in his tone Bluestar considered his words then nodded in approval.

"Very well then, you may go. Tigerclaw have Whitestorm and Sandpaw escort them back to their territory. Tigerclaw grunted and led them out into the camp once more.

"Whitestorm you and Sandpaw come here," he called across the clearing. The two approached curiously. Sandpaw looked blankly at Firestorm.

"Escort these two back to SkyClan," Tigerclaw told them with a dismissal flick of his tail. Whitestorm took the lead of their little patrol leading them outside the gorse tunnel once more.

Firestorm kept feeling like something was watching him and out of the corner of his eye he saw it was Sandpaw, he wondered why she was watching him so intently, and He didn't have time to wonder when Whitestorm suddenly spoke up.

"Well here's your border, I hope all is well when you reach your camp." He told them, Silverwind dipped his head in appreciation.

"Yes and may StarClan light your path," Silverwind told him.

"And yours as well," Whitestorm returned, "Come along Sandpaw," Sandpaw gave one last look at Firestorm before following her mentor back toward their own camp. Silverwind touched Firestorm's shoulder gently. With his tail.

"Let's go, Goldenstar will want to hear from us as soon as possible." Firestorm agreed and the two raced off toward camp.

Firestorm felt relief once they had reached camp, he wondered how his friends were doing, he hadn't gotten the chance to tell them where he was going. As he padded through camp he looked around and hadn't seen any of his friends, he figured they were out hunting or patrolling and figure he would see them soon. Goldenstar rose to her paws and beckoned them to her den.

"I pleased to see you both returned safe and sound, I trust you were successful?" she asked.

"Yes but I'm afraid something unexpected occurred on our way back from WindClan territory," Silverwind explained. Goldenstar's amber gaze narrowed as they explained what had occurred at the gorge earlier. Once they had finished they waited for Goldenstar's reply.

"I feared something like this could occur but I never expected it to happen so soon." She confessed suddenly. "We will have to keep an eye on the RiverClan border and expect some accusations of an alliance forming between ourselves, ThunderClan and WindClan."

"Despite this unexpected issue, you both did well on your mission and we will feast to night on your valiant return." Goldenstar looked at each of them with pride. "Firestorm I wish to speak with you a moment. Silverwind you may go" with a dip of his head Silverwind left the den. Goldenstar turned her eyes onto Firestorm.

"I just wanted you to know that Redflower's and Thrushfur's kits are ready to be apprenticed and I've been picking mentors for them since the day before." Firestorm nodded his head slowly listening to her speak.

"I want you to mentor Sunkit," Firestorm's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Are you sure?" he asked curiously, "Not that I don't want to it's just that I don't understand why I'm being chosen."

"I'm choosing you because I think you're ready and because Redflower asked for you." Firestorm's eyes widened once more.

"She did?"

"Yes, you are the only one warrior, besides Redflower, Finchflight and myself who can mentor her." Goldenstar confessed. "Redflower once her to trust other warriors besides herself, so she doesn't want to mentor her, Finchflight as her father would be too gentle with her, and she needs to learn like every other apprentice. I myself have too many responsibilities to take her on as my apprentice and with the new crisis with RiverClan I'm afraid I don't think I will give her all the attention she'll need." Firestorm understood now why he was chosen and it made a lot of since. 'Sunkit doesn't like to be around other cats, she used to be okay around Dovefeather, Runningstream and Longclaw when they were apprentices but now…'

"I accept Goldenstar, I'll work hard and make sure she learns everything," he promised

'I don't doubt that, well the ceremony will be at dusk, I'm sure you are exhausted get some rest." Goldenstar requested gently. Firestorm nodded and head for the warrior's den. He was immediately assaulted by his friends.

"Welcome back Firestorm," Longclaw meowed loudly nudging his friend. Runningstream and Dovefeather touched noses with him gently.

"It's good to see your back in good health." Firestorm thanked them and yawned a little.

"Tell us what happened," Dovefeather asked curiously. Firestorm nodded and recounted everything that had happened on the journey up to the battle by the gorge.

"That must have been horrible." Runningstream meowed sadly

"Oh and Goldenstar is letting me mentor Sunkit," Firestorm added in. They dropped their jaws in shock.

"You, but Lightningstrike, Runningstream and I have been warriors longer then you have and we weren't considered to mentor." Dovefeather murmured in confusion.

"It's because of Sunkit's unwillingness to communicate with anyone isn't it?" Runningstream asked softly. Dovefeather looked at her in confusion.

"What do you mean? She talks to all of us not just Firestorm." Longclaw shook his head

"Have you ever tried to speak with her, by yourself?" he asked carefully "or has Firestorm always been with you?" Dovefeather thought for a moment before fully understanding what they were saying to her.

"I understand now she only feels comfortable around him, it would just be easier to let her train with Firestorm, then to have Firestorm constantly helping her mentor." She thought aloud.

"Well good luck with that Firestorm, Let us know if you need any help okay?" Longclaw told him with a touch of his tail. Runningstream agreed also. Dovefeather nodded as well. Firestorm was overwhelmed with warmth. 'I was worried they would all responed negatively to me becoming a mentor before them, I'm relieved that they support me.' He thought to himself.'

"Thanks guys I need some rest though, it's been a long mission." Firestorm yawned again and the three led him to his nest.

Firestorm awoke to a paw prodding him in his side, he looked up and saw SIlverwind looking down at him.

"Come on Firestorm it's time for the ceremony." He murmured to the fiery warrior. Firestorm thanked him and stretched out of his nest. He gave himself a quick wash then headed for the Highbranch where Goldenstar made her speeches. Beneath the Highbranch sat Leafkit, Sunkit and Sharpkit, looked as though they had been thoroughly groomed. Firestorm could see that Leafkit and Sharpkit were excited about the ceremony, but Sunkit looked a little scared and her eyes were filled with worry. Suddenly Goldenstar called for silence.

"By naming apprentices, we show that SkyClan will survive and remain strong." Goldenstar looked down at the kits. "Come forth you three," Leafkit and Sharpkit scrambled forward, Sunkit followed a little hesistantly.

"From this moment on, until she has earned her warrior name, this apprentice will be known as Leafpaw."

"Icefeather, you are now ready to take on an apprentice. You will be mentor to Leafpaw. Icefeather, you have shown yourself to be a warrior of intelligence and enthusiasm. I'm sure you will pass on all you know to this apprentice." Icefeather padded forward and touched her nose to Leafpaw's and the both moved off to sit at the edge of the clearing. Goldenstar then turned her gaze onto Sunkit.

"From this moment on, until she has earned her warrior name, this apprentice will be known as Sunpaw."

"Firestorm, you are now ready to take on an apprentice. You will be mentor to Sunpaw. Firestorm, you have shown yourself to be a warrior of patience and skill. I'm sure you will pass on all you know to your apprentice." Firestorm saw Sunpaw's eyes light up with happiness as Firestorm came up to her. He could still see a trace of fear in her gaze but he ignored that for the moment and touched noses with her. He could hear her purring softly as their noses pressed together. He quickly started to lead her over to where Icefeather settled down with Leafpaw. He could see Lightningstrike staring at him with undisguised loathing and he could hear the Clan murmuring about complaints about him being chosen as a mentor. He ignored them as he sat beside Sunpaw, who was watching her brother's naming with a little anxiety.

"From this moment on, until he has earned his warrior name, this apprentice will be known as Sharppaw."

"Stonetooth, you are now ready to take on an apprentice. You will be mentor to Sharppaw. Stonetooth, you have shown yourself to be a warrior of strength and cunning. I'm sure you will pass on all you know to this apprentice." Stonetooth proudly stepped forward and touched noses with his apprentice. The Clan erupted into cheers for the three apprentices.

"Leafpaw, Sunpaw, Sharppaw, Leafpaw, Sunpaw, Sharppaw" called the Clan. Firestorm looked down at Sunpaw expecting her to have a look of happiness on her face, but he felt his blood run cold as he saw the look of absolute horror on her face as she stared forward unblinkingly. He followed her gaze and saw that it was directed a one cat in particular.

:D

Leaving it here not telling who she's staring at though I'm sure some of you know… or maybe all of you know but in case you don't I'm not going to spoil the surprise just yet.

Review

Once more there is still time to vote on Ravenpaw's warrior name, I haven't decided if he'll be a warrior in the next chapter or not, but if you haven't already voted then…VOTE!

Also check my other stories including my newest story **A Sparrow's Fire **

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	17. Chapter 17

Okay new Chapter a lot sooner than I thought it would be but here it is

Don't forget to vote in my profile for Ravenpaw's warrior name, you have up to five votes.

So far:

In 5th place: Ravenstorm, Ravenlight, Ravenmist Ravenpelt Raventail

In 4th place: Ravenwind, Ravenheart, Ravenspirit, Ravenfoot

In 3rd place: Ravenclaw

In 2nd place: Ravenwing

In 1st place: Ravenfeather, Ravenflight

So Vote there are other names that could be chosen, but you have to vote for them, so check out my profile and vote on Ravenpaw's warrior name.

Alright on with the Chapter.

Chapter 17

Firestorm looked at Sunpaw in concern and called her name softly. She snapped out of her daze and looked sadly up at Firestorm.

"Sunpaw are you alright? Do you need to see Fallowpelt?" he asked gently. She closed her eyes and shook her head slowly. Firestorm was about to ask her what was wrong, when Ravenpaw Runningstream, Dovefeather and Longclaw approached them.

"Congratulations to both of you," Runningstream meowed, Sunpaw meowed her thanks just as Redflower came up to lick her ears gently.

"I'm proud of you, follow Firestorm's instructions okay?" Sunpaw nodded to her mother. Redflower turned her sharp gaze onto Firestorm.

"You take care of her, you hear me? She's been through enough." Redflower murmured lowly. Firestorm nodded his head in understanding. With one last lick of Sunpaw's ears, she headed over to Sharppaw to congratulate him. Finchflight came up to Sunpaw and gave her a warm nuzzle purring gently to her.

'You'll do just fine." He murmured in her ears softly. She purred in response. Firestorm was pleased to see whatever had spooked Sunpaw, wasn't bothering her at the moment. He glanced over at the cat she was staring at and wondered what had freaked her out so much?

"Sunpaw, you go on to the apprentice den and pick your nest okay?" he told her gently. Sunpaw nodded and headed off for the apprentice den.

Once the clan's cries had died down Goldenstar spoke once more.

"As you can see Firestorm and SIlverwind were successful in finding WindClan, because of this we shall feast in their honor." Goldenstar spoke calmly. "They may have first pick from the fresh-kill pile."The Clan roared with excitement all the cats coming to congratulate them on their successful mission. Firestorm approached the fresh-kill pile and pulled out a bat and headed over to lie in front of the warrior's den, though he wasn't very hungry he was still worried for his new apprentice. Ravenpaw approached him suddenly looking around nervously.

"What's wrong Ravenpaw?" he asked with concern

"It's just, I was wondering how Scorchblaze and Graystripe are doing?" Ravenpaw asked softly, "I overheard Silverwind telling Smokecloud about what happened at the gorge."

"They were alright when I left them, physically at least." Firestorm explained, "Graystripe blames himself for not being able to grab that RiverClan warrior, before he fell into the gorge and Scorchblaze blames himself for suggesting we travel the way we went." Ravenpaw sighed sadly.

"I was worried about that, I hope they'll be okay by the next gathering." Ravenpaw murmured Firestorm agreed, nibbling at his bat. Ravenpaw had a sparrow clamped in his jaws and was eating it quickly. Firestorm decided to eat since he knew he would need his strength in the morning. After polishing off his bat and giving the wings to Fallowpelt, he made his way to the apprentice den, he called into the nest for Sunpaw. She came out moments later looking curiously at him.

"I want you ready to go by dawn, can you do that?"

"Yes I'll be ready," she meowed soflty. He purred to her and wished her a goodnight and let her get ready to sleep. He decided to question her tomorrow. With that thought in mind he headed into the warriors' den finding his nest and sleeping.

Firestorm awoke just before dawn and stretched carefully out of his nest. He padded out of the warrior's den taking in the early morning air. He bend down to wash himself quickly. He could see Mapletail, Oaktalon, Grayfeather and Sootpelt heading out for dawn patrol. He had just finished his wash when Icefeather emerged from the den and came straight toward him.

"Good morning Firestorm," she meowed softly. Firestorm returned the greeting just as warmly.

"Good morning Icefeather, Is there something you need?" he questioned

"No I just wanted to know if you wanted to explore the territory with Leafpaw and me, I know you and Sunpaw were probably going to do the same thing so I was wondering if you wanted to go together." Icefeather inquired. Firestorm thought about it for a moment. He had planned to question Sunpaw's reaction to last night's ceremony. He knew that exploring the territory would be the best opportunity, However he didn't have a good enough excuse to explain why he didn't want to go with Icefeather.

"Okay that should be fine. Should we ask Stonetooth to see if he wants to come along?" Firestorm asked her, Icefeather shook her head.

"No, I already asked him, he says he wants to start training Sharppaw now." Firestorm blinked in surprise.

"But, Sharppaw hasn't been out of the territory before today." He pointed out. "Why wouldn't he want to show Sharppaw around?" Icefeather could only shrug.

"Should we get them now and let them eat? Or should we just head out?" Firestorm thought for a moment.

"We should just head out, they'll probably be too excited to eat anyway" Firestorm pointed out. "Besides we could just catch something later." Icefeather meowed her agreement.

They walked over to the apprentice den. Ravenpaw was outside the nest grooming himself as they approached.

"Ravenpaw could you fetch Sunpaw and Leafpaw for us?" he asked the black apprentice. Ravenpaw nodded before disappearing into the den. Moments later Leafpaw came scrambling out of the den, with Sunpaw moving much slower. Firestorm looked on in concern, he could tell that Sunpaw must not have slept well last night and wondered what had upset her so much?

"Sunpaw are you alright?" he meowed gently. She turned her sky blue gaze on him, nodding slowly.

"Yes I'm okay, I didn't get enough sleep last night." She meowed quietly, she must have seen the concern on Firestorm's face because she quickly added that it was due to her own excitement. Firestorm didn't believe her, but felt this was not the time to pry any further. Icefeather looked at her curiously and gave Firestorm a questioning look.

"She's tired from a lack of sleep, she says she was too excited to sleep." Icefeather seemed to accept the answer, for she gave her own apprentice a scolding look.

"I want you sleeping when you're supposed to sleep understood?" she meowed. Leafpaw nodded and meowed in agreement. Firestorm regarded Sunpaw carefully. He could see she was tired, but she was sturdy on her paws from what he could see.

"Do you need to rest? Maybe you shouldn't explore the territory today." Sunpaw shook her head.

"I'll be alright," she told him. Firestorm looks her over once more and sighs, he decides to let her come along. Icefeather led the way to the tunnel, with Leafpaw trailing after her. Firestorm followed and Sunpaw brought up the rear.

Once they were outside the territory, Sunpaw seemed to get more excited. Her eyes were glowing as she looked around. Firestorm kept a close eye on her as Icefeather started toward the Bat Hollow tree. As they walked Leafpaw was asking lots of questions. Mainly about how big was their territory, and who they shared borders with. The forest was covered in leaves. It was currently Leaf-fall so the forest was covered in reddish-brown leaves. Leafpaw looked at them in surprise.

"I always wondered why my mother chose to name me Leafkit, when I look nothing like a leaf," she thought allowed. Icefeather mrrowed in amusement. Leafpaw batted at some of the leaves that fell from passing trees. Sunpaw looked around nervously, but she too found amusement in crushing the leaves between her toes.

"Will we be catching birds today?" Leafpaw asked as she looked around. Icefeather shook her head.

"No, just exploring territory, will work on that tomorrow," she told her.

Before long they had reached the Bat Hollow it seemed empty and lifeless. Firestorm thought about what Goldenstar had told him about the Bat Hollow.

"This is the B-"Firestorm was cut off surprisingly by Sunpaw.

"Bat Hollow," spoke Sunpaw, Icefeather looked at her curiously, while Leafpaw was distracted by the Bat Hollow tree. Firestorm was shocked the young kit recogonized the Bat Hollow, despite never seeing it.

"That's correct, it houses bats during the Newleaf and Greenleaf seasons," Firestorm spoke, "They send Leaf-fall and Leaf-bare elsewhere so it's unlikely will see any until Newleaf."

"They're not bad to eat though," Icefeather pointed out.

"Let's get going, we have much more to see," Firestorm called as he headed in the direction of the Sun Rock. Firestorm saw a strange wooden nest clinging to the sides of trees, he remembered that his own Twolegs would hang these strange nests off of trees in his garden. He knew birds liked to live in them during Leaf-bare. His twolegs also liked to put seeds, nuts and berries in other twoleg things and hang them off of trees so birds could eat them. He saw one of those bird feeding things closer to the twolegplace.

"What are those?" Leafpaw asked in fascination of the strange nest she was looking at.

"Twoleg's set it up, it's for birds to nest in during Leaf-bare." Firestorm meowed softly.

"Is it a trap of some kind? Should we destroy it?" She asked glaring at the strange nest.

"No, they're useful, since those nest appeared in our territory more birds have stayed around during Leaf-bare, there are also these strange feeding things that twolegs put out for birds to eat from. Both of these twoleg things keep more birds around during Leaf-bare, so we eat well, a lot of birds will leave the forest come Leaf-bare so we'll need every bird we can find." Icefeather explained Leafpaw's eyes widened in surprise and she looked at the nest with a new light. Firestorm was surprised by this information, Goldenstar had once pointed out one of these strange nests, but she hadn't explained as thourghly as Icefeather had. 'Maybe she thought I already knew about it.' Firestorm realized with a jolt. 'Of course since I was a kittypet, she probably thought I knew its use and why the Clan didn't mind them being in their territory.' Firestorm knew there were four other nesting boxes close by and maybe three other feeding nests nearby.

"Those feeding nests will be the best spots for hunting during Leaf-bare." She explained, "Birds will gather around there get fat from the seeds, nuts and berries."

"What birds stay during Leaf-bare?" asked Sunpaw

"Wrens, robins, woodpeckers, jays, jackdaws, sparrows, goldcrests, firecrests, a few doves, chaffinches, crows, bullfinch and blackbirds."

"We wouldn't be able to catch nightingales, nightjars, redstarts, sedge warblers, flycatchers, swallows, swifts, wood warblers and hobbies, again until Greenleaf." Icefeather told them.

"Though there will be some birds that will come to the forest only during leaf-bare." Firestorm pointed out. "Like bramblings, there will be plenty of them during Leaf-bare."

They continued moving through the forest, and came upon a familiar clearing. Firestorm headed toward the proud standing rock, in the center. Leafpaw and Sandpaw looked on in excitement.

"This is the Sun Rock," Firestorm meowed as he leaped to the top of the rock in a single bound. "This is where we come to warm up or relax when on patrol or taking a break from hunting." Icestorm came to sit underneath the rock, in the cave-like opening. Leafpaw crawled under to join her. Sunpaw looked up at Firestorm, who invited her up with a flick of his tail. Sunpaw scrambled up to join him on the rock. Firestorm could feel the sun warming his pelt and could feel the same energy he felt from the first time he stood on the Sun Rock. Having Sunpaw standing beside him made him reminisce on his first time exploring the forest with Goldenstar.

"I think we should move on now, "Icefeather called up after coming out from beneath the rock. Leafpaw reluctantly followed her. Firestorm nodded and looked at Sunpaw who seemed reluctant to leave as well.

"We'll have other times to go to the Sun Rock, we have much more territory to show you." Firestorm told her, Sunpaw nodded and jumped down and Firestorm leaped down after her.

They continued onward and before long they reached the Sand Shore. The river was flowing steadily splashing against the bank. Icefeather lead them to a spot to lay down on.

"This is the Sand Shore, this is a good spot to find ducks and herons to catch for prey, it's also a nice place to share prey and just relax, similar to the Sun Rock." Icefeather explained

"We also have fought with RiverClan for moons over this territory, because it is a prime area for fishing." Firestorm added. "Take a deep breath see if you can scent RiverClan," Leafpaw and Sunpaw began to breathe deeply, taking in all the scents around the forest.

"I can smell cats and a yucky fishy odor," Leafpaw meowed as she looked around.

"Me too," meowed Sunpaw softly, Firestorm nodded

"Is the scent fresh or older?"

"Older, a patrol hasn't been there yet." meowed Sunpaw, Firestorm gave her an approving look.

"Well done, your right the patrol hasn't been here yet." Meowed Icefeather. Leafpaw and Sunpaw seemed to glow under the praise of their mentors. Firestorm stood suddenly and started into the forest. Sunpaw stood to follow him, but he stopped her with the flick of his tail.

"I think we should rest for a moment, I'll catch us some fresh-kill," he reassured them. Firestorm turned into the forest. He sniffed around for a moment, his ears twitching back and forth. Suddenly he saw a quail and a pounce later and he had it in his jaws. He buried the quail, and sniffed around for more prey. He climbed the nearest tree, he caught sight of a woodpecker on the branch below him. He judged the leap from the branch below him to his branch and noticed that the woodpecker in the path of the leap. He slowly he balanced himself down on the limb and leaped down catching it in his teeth and landing on the lower branch. He lowered the woodpecker to the ground. He then made his way over to some nearby branches. He sniffed around once more and caught the scent of a robin. He waited patiently and slowly the bird came out, and Firestorm pounced onto the bird. Firestorm carried his catches back to the Sand Shore. Leafpaw excitedly picked up the robin, Icefeather blinked gratefully then picked up the woodpecker. Firestorm carried the quail over to Sunpaw and together they pulled the feathers off and shared the prey. Once they had finished they rose from the Sand Shore and continued onward, toward the ThunderClan border.

Firestorm leaped over the other side of the creek and waited patiently beside Icefeather for the apprentices to leap across the rocks to the other side. Icefeather started to lead the way to the ThunderClan border. As the border came into view, Firestorm saw Sunpaw stop suddenly. Firestorm looked over at Sunpaw and saw that she was trembling, with a haunted look in her eyes. Firestorm immediately came to her side.

"Are you alright?" he asked, she looked at him with pain filled eyes shaking her head slowly. Firestorm turned and called out to Icefeather.

" Icefeather go on ahead, Sunpaw's not feeling well, I'm going to take her back to camp." Called Firestorm, Icefeather looked on with a worried expression.

"Is she alright?" she called,

"I think she'll be okay but I'm going to take her back the camp." Firestorm called back. Icefeather nodded her head and continued on with Leafpaw excitedly trailing behind Icefeather. Firestorm nudged Sunpaw gently and started to lead her back toward the camp.

As they grew closer to the camp, Sunpaw changed direction and raced off into the forest. Firestorm called for her and raced after her. He caught up with her not far from the Sun Rock.

"Where are you going?" he asked her after catching his breath. She looked around and looked up into the trees. As Firestorm looked into her eyes he noticed that she seemed to be struggling with something, but seemed to steel her resolve as she met his eyes.

"Can we talk? A way from camp?" she asked softly. Firestorm looked confused but nodded slowly.

"Yes we can, we're close to the Sun Rock we can talk there." He told her. He started leading the way to the Sun Rock. Once they had reached the rock, Sunpaw went beneath the rock, Firestorm sighed and followed her beneath the Sun Rock. He saw that Sunpaw looked extremely nervous and he touched her shoulder gently with his tail.

"It's okay you can tell me anything," Firestorm reassured her. Sunpaw nodded sadly, taking a deep breath and looked up into his eyes.

"Do you know the story about my brother Flamekit?" Firestorm nodded looking sympathetically at her,

"Yes I do, he was killed by a fox, Longclaw told me." Sunpaw winced a little when he said it.

"Well it's not entirely true," Sunpaw meowed softly. Firestorm looked curiously at her.

"What do you mean?" Sunpaw looked sadly into his eyes.

"I was with him the day he died."

Okay I'm leaving it here, to torture folks but I'm sure everyone can guess what happened and if you are totally stumped well…

You'll have to wait for the next chapter. I know it's kind of short but it is here.

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	18. Chapter 18

Vote for Ravenpaw's warrior name in my profile.

I felt bad about the last chapter being short so I said to myself, why not post another short chapter to make up for the other being so short? So here it is

Chapter 18

"You were with him?" he said in shock, he looked closely into her eyes as she spoke.

"I saw him die," she meowed softly. Firestorm looked at her in horror. 'A young kit watched her brother killed. No wonder she's so sad all the time.'

"I'm so sorry you saw that Sunpaw, you must have been frightened." Firestorm told her gently. Sunpaw nodded.

"I thought when he came back to camp he would kill me too, but he must not have seen me." Firestorm stared at Sunpaw in confusion.

"The fox followed you to camp?" Firestorm asked her.

"I should probably explain from the beginning." Sunpaw told him gently.

"My brother and I had been playing all morning and our mother had called us to rest in our nest." Sunpaw started softly. "We had been talking about how great it would be to see the forest and everything in it. All the stories the elders told us about, we wanted to see it for ourselves."

"So, we agreed to sneak out when our mother was sleeping and when no one was paying attention to us. Sharppaw was sleeping in Thrushpelt's nest with Leafpaw, so we didn't have to worry about accidently waking him up, but it was harder with Redflower." Sunpaw's eyes seemed to mist over as she continued with her story. "Once our mother was asleep we carefully got out of the nursery and snuck through a gap behind it." Firestorm knew exactly what gap she was referring to remembering the time He and Dovefeather had snuck out as apprentices to the Sun Rock.

"We were so excited, we never considered we could run into danger within our own territory." Sunpaw said with a sad shake of her head. "We ran around looking for the spots the elders spoke of, like Bat Hollow, and the Sand Shore." Firestorm remembered how she easily knew that they had reached the Bat Hollow. "We found the Bat Hollow, as I'm sure you've guessed, but not the Sand Shore. We did visit the Sun Rock though, Flamekit said one day he'd climb to the top of it." She choked back a sob and Firestorm touched her gently on the shoulder. Once she calmed down she continued.

"We kept going, we eventually ran into the creek, though it wasn't nearly as deep or far across as I remembered seeing it today."

"That's because we were probably further upstream then you were." He told her, "You were probably closer to where you can walk in the shallows to the otherside." Sunpaw nodded.

"Yes we did walk through it, I hated that my fur got wet, but I still wanted to explore more." Firestorm suddenly thought of something.

"Wait a minute Sunpaw, it sounds as though you were gone a long time. How is it Redflower hadn't noticed you both were gone?"

"I had wondered the same thing, I asked Flamekit what he thought and he told me that he had given Redflower some poppy seeds." Firestorm stared at her in disbelief

"How did he manage to do that?" he asked in shock

"Earlier he had snuck into Fallowpelt's den and had gotten some poppy seeds. Fallowpelt had been seeing to the elders. Blackbird's shoulder had been bothering him." She told him carefully. "When Redflower asked Flamekit to get her some fresh-kill, he put some seeds into a bat he brought Redflower." Firestorm looked at her incredulously

"How did he know what they were used for? He could have made her sick if he had gotten the wrong thing." She nodded in understanding.

"I thought the same thing. Flamekit wanted to be a medicine cat and had asked Fallowpelt if he could be her apprentice when he was old enough." Sunpaw told him. "She agreed and since then had allowed him to be in her den to help her sort herbs and told him different uses for each. The first thing she taught him was about the use of poppy seeds."

"He sounds like he would have been a good medicine cat," Firestorm told her, Sunpaw nodded sadly.

"I was as surprised as you when he told me. I wanted to make sure she was okay and started back to camp, but Flamekit kept insisting she was fine and that we should explore more." Firestrom saw the glow in her eyes starting to dim. "I started back toward camp, but he continued onward and I felt I couldn't go back without him, so I raced after him but he was far ahead of me and then he disappeared in some bushes, I tried to catch up, but he was always faster than me. By the time I had reached the bushes he had disappeared into some of the tall grass."

"I did my best to follow his scent, but I couldn't keep track of it well. So I did my best to look for them, that's when I saw…" Sunpaw sniffed and took a deep breath, "He was talking with that ThunderClan warrior." Firestorm stared in shock.

"Flamekit was speaking with a ThunderClan warrior?" Firestorm asked her.

"No, Flamekit was just curious he didn't know why…" she spoke rapidly

"Slow down Sunpaw, you're not making sense." Firestorm told her softly. "What happened with Flamekit?"

"He approached them asking why the ThunderClan warrior was in our territory." She was nearly hysterical, Firepaw came over and nuzzled her gently trying to calm her down.

"Them? There were two ThunderClan warriors?" he asked she shook her head.

"Only one ThunderClan, he was only asking a question…" She sobbed.

"What happened Sunpaw? Please tell me what happened." He begged her, her beaten tone frightened her.

"He killed him, with a snap of his jaws, like he was a piece of fresh-kill" she almost wailed. Firestorm was trembling in horror by her words

"Who killed Flamekit," he whispered softly

"Stonetooth," Firestorm almost couldn't believe what he had heard.

(I wanted to stop here and make it a very short chapter, but I had a heart.)

"Stonetooth killed Flamekit? But why would he do that?"

"I don't know, maybe he was doing something bad with that ThunderClan warrior, but he didn't have to kill Flamekit," she sniffed. Firestorm thought about what she had said and things began to make sense. Sunpaw's unwillingness to be around the other warriors, her behavior after Flamekit's death. Her horrified look at finding out that Stonetooth was mentoring her brother. 'What kit would trust warriors after seeing that?' Firestorm thought grimly.

"That's why you looked so scared, at the ceremony," Firestorm whispered.

"I knew there was a chance he could get me as an apprentice, I almost didn't want to be an apprentice, I don't trust anyone." She told him "How could I, they'd probably kill me too if they knew I had snuck out with him."

"No one would lay a paw on you for sneaking out, you would be reprimanded, but the most Goldenstar would have done is postpone your apprenticeship, no one would have killed you for it." Sunpaw looked disbelievingly at him

"Sharppaw said that's what happens when kits leave the nursery before their old enough, they end up dead." She meowed hollowly, he shivered at her tone.

"I'm sure he meant if they tried to survive on their own they probably would die, there are also a number of predators out here that could pick a small kit off." Firestorm told her. "But no warrior would kill a kit for leaving camp." She stared at him as he continued to speak.

"If it was ok to kill kits that leave the nursery before their apprentices, then why does the warrior code state that all kits should be protected? Why would Stonetooth lie and say he found Flamekit dead?" he questioned her. Sunpaw looked confused

"You mean that wasn't just the story Redflower was telling me to keep me from being frightened?" she asked. Firestorm nodded

"What happened after Stonetooth killed Flamekit?" he asked. Sunpaw gathered her thoughts

"I turned and ran as fast as my paws could carry me," she breathed. "I got back to my nest before Redflower realized I was missing, and curled up trying to believe it was all a dream, when I woke Redflower told me that Flamekit was killed by a fox and that Stonetooth had found him."

"I just assumed she was just telling me that to so she wouldn't have to tell me what really happened to him." She whispered. "Do you mean that all this time I was wrong?"

"She truly believed he was killed by a fox, Longclaw told me that Flamekit's scent was mixed with a fox's scent. " Firestorm told her, "Stonetooth must have rubbed your brother's body in fox scent to convince the Clan with his story."

"I was so scared to ask questions about him, or anything pertaining to his death." She murmured. "I was frightened Stonetooth would kill me next." Her eyes were filled with sorrow.

"I understand you were scared of what could happen to you," he soothed her "But now you should tell everyone the truth of what you saw." She stared at him in horror.

"No I-I couldn't, even if I'm no longer afraid of my clanmates" she told him. Firestorm felt better hearing that she wasn't scared of her Clanmates any longer.

"But why? Why keep it a secret and let Stonetooth get away with killing Flamekit?"

"Would anyone believe me?" she questioned "I was a kit, not even three moons old, and they could believe that I just imagined the whole thing. After all they found me in my nest where I was supposed to be. They could think I was confused for thinking that Stonetooth killed Flamekit and didn't simply find him"

"Do you even believe me? Or do you plan to tell Goldenstar everything I said the moment you can get her alone?" she asked bitterly. Firestorm was surprised by the bitterness in her tone. He soothingly licked her ears.

"I would never do that Sunpaw, your right we need more proof then just your word." Firestorm thought back to what Ravenpaw had told him about his old Clan trusting Tigerclaw's words more than his own. 'They wouldn't have believed her, without some proof. If she was missing when Stonetooth showed up and she had appeared in camp after he told his story about Flamekit, maybe that would have been enough.' He thought to himself. Sunpaw's ears perked up.

"We?"

"Yes we, I'll help you get your proof no matter what." Firestorm promised her. "We'll reveal the truth." She purred softly, burying her face in his fur. 'There has to be a way to convince the Clan of Stonetooth's treachery' Suddenly Firestorm thought back to what Sunpaw had said earlier.

"Sunpaw?"

"Yes Firestorm?" she asked

"Do you remember what the ThunderClan warrior looked like?" he asked her curiously. "Did you hear his name mentioned?" Sunpaw thought for a moment

"I didn't hear his name, he was a dark tabby tom with long claws," she meowed shivering slightly. "That's all I remember." Firestorm quickly thought back to his last two gatherings, trying to remember every ThunderClan cat who was there. One stood out in particular.

"Sunpaw, I promise I won't reveal any of this to the Clan until we have enough proof, but I was wondering if I could speak with Ravenpaw about this?" She looked questioningly at him. "Ravenpaw is here for reasons I cannot speak of, because I was asked not to by him. "

"I still don't understand," she meowed softly.

"I think his reasons for leaving ThunderClan are connected to Flamekit's murder," Firestorm told her. She looked on with mixed emotions fear, curiosity and shock standing out. "I just need to find a way to speak with him.

"If you're going to speak with him, then I want to be there for it, I want to know why…"she trailed off, but he could see her eyes burning with a new light. Firestorm could see that she was through feeling sorry for herself and was getting over the guilt of not standing by her brother. Firestorm felt cold at the thought of losing Sunpaw. He thanked StarClan that she hadn't been caught by Stonetooth.

"That's fine, I feel it's only fair that you tell him your story, before he gives up his own." Firestorm pointed out.

"Do you really think they're connected?" she asked him

"Yes, but I won't know for sure until I can take you to a gathering." He told her. She looked questioningly at him. "To see if the ThunderClan warrior you saw is the same one I believe was there." Her eyes widened

"You know who it was?"

"I have a suspicion, but like I said until you can identify him it's just a guess." She nodded in acceptance of that.

"When can we talk to Ravenpaw?" she asked softly

"I'll see if I can convince Hawkwing to let Ravenpaw, help me teach you some hunting techniques." Firestorm told her. "If I can do that then maybe we can get him alone long enough for us all to talk."

"Okay, will we do that tomorrow?" she asked

"Yes, I think Ashstorm is sending Hawkwing on dawn patrol tomorrow, if he doesn't take Ravenpaw with him that might be our chance." Sunpaw silently gazed out the entrance to the Sun Rock.

"Thank you Firestorm," he looked into her soft sky blue eyes, he felt his pelt warm up.

"W-why thank me?" he stuttered slightly she purred softly in response.

"For believing me and for not treating me like I had a disease." She meowed softly, "You were kind to me and included me in everything." Firestorm licked his chest in embarrassment.

"I wasn't entirely truthful about why I was so afraid at the ceremony," she meowed softly, Firestorm looked curiously at her. "I was scared of getting Stonetooth as a mentor, but I was sad and afraid for you." He blinked slowly at her words

"Why?" This time Sunpaw looked embarrassed.

"I didn't know you had returned from your mission," she meowed softly, "I thought you might not come back, before I could tell you everything incase…" Firestorm licked her ears gently.

"Why me? Why did you chose to tell me?" he asked her softly.

"Because you weren't raised by the Clan, you wouldn't simply take the word of a warrior. I knew there was a chance you would believe me" She meowed softly. "And because you remind me of Flamekit." Firestorm remembered Longclaw saying something like that to him.

"You're similar to him, he was always kind to me and looking out for me." She told him. Firestorm looked out the opening and could tell that it had gotten later into the day.

"We should probably head back to camp," he told her, "Icefeather will probably be there by now and is probably wondering where we are." Sunpaw nodded and reluctantly padded out the opening, Firestorm followed after her.

Well that's it that's all I'm giving Ya

Review and vote review and vote.


	19. Chapter 19

Yep it has been a while since I updated I have noticed.

The polls are looking interesting so far

5th place: Ravenstorm and Ravenclaw

4th place: Ravenstrike, Ravenheart, Ravenwind and Ravenmist

3rd place: Ravenspirit

2nd place: Ravenflight

1st place: Ravenwing and Ravenfeather

The polls are still going I haven't yet gotten to Ravenpaw's naming ceremony so there is still time to vote for it.

Now without further ado

Chapter 19

Firestorm and Sunpaw were back in the camp. They noticed Icefeather and Leafpaw hadn't returned from their patrol. Firestorm and Sunpaw headed over to the apprentice den to look for Ravenpaw.

"Firestorm," a voice suddenly called out. Firestorm looked and saw that it was Dovefeather emerging from the warriors den. She came up to the fiery warrior and apprentice looking a little confused. "Where were you Firestorm?" she asked curiously giving Sunpaw a strange look. Firestorm blinked slowly as he listened to her.

"I took Sunpaw out to explore the territory." Firestorm explained curious about why Dovefeather wanted to know.

"But, why didn't you ask anyone to come with you?" she meowed sternly. Her tail lashing slightly. "Who knows where Brokenstar and the rest of his elite warriors have gone? You could have been ambushed." Firestorm looked at her incredulously

"Dovefeather, Brokenstar hasn't been seen for at least a moon, and for your information Icefeather and Leafpaw went with us." Firestorm growled slightly. "Sunpaw wasn't feeling well so we decided to come back early. Not that that is any of your business!" Dovefeather's tail stopped lashing back and forth and she flinched. Runningstream who had followed Dovefeather out of the warrior's den came over to put space between the two of them.

"That's enough, Dovefeather go get Longclaw we need to hunt." Runningstream meowed stiffly. Dovefeather silently obeyed her and headed into the warriors den. Runningstream sighed and turned to look at Firestorm.

"Please don't get too upset with her she was just concerned." Runningstream told him gently. "She was hoping to go hunting with you and she must have forgotten your responsibility to Sunpaw. Actually we were all wondering where you had gone." Firestorm blinked slowly as he looked at her.

"Still I'm not an apprentice anymore and I can look after myself now," Firestorm told her calmly. "I apologize for not telling you guys where I was going but it was kind of an unplanned thing. Icefeather asked me if I wanted to go hunting with her and Leafpaw and I saw no harm in going with her."

"I understand, we were just hoping with could have gone with you and helped you show Sunpaw the territory." Runningstream explained as she glanced over to see Longclaw and Dovefeather emerging from the warriors den. "I should get going, perhaps we can show Sunpaw some battle skills when she feels better?" Firestorm nodded

"Yes I'm sure she'd like that. I wish you well on your hunting." Firestorm called after her. Longclaw gave him a friendly wave with his tail, which he returned, but Dovefeather refused to meet his gaze. He watched them leave camp and padded off to look for Sunpaw.

Sunpaw was lying outside the apprentice den speaking softly to Ravenpaw, Firestorm couldn't make out what they were saying as he approached the two of them. Ravenpaw looked up with a friendly wave of his tail.

"Hi Firestorm, Sunpaw was telling me how you would like for me to show her some hunting techniques. I'd be more than willing to do it now if you're not too tired." Firestorm blinked slowly unsure of what to do. On one hand he really wanted to talk to Ravenpaw and he might not get another chance so soon, but he also wasn't prepared for how Ravenpaw or Sunpaw might take the conversation. He glanced at Sunpaw and saw that she still wore a look of determination on her face. He was certain she wasn't going to back down from this. Firestorm turned his attention back to Ravenpaw, who was eyeing him curiously.

"Yes that's fine, are you sure Hawkwing won't mind?" Firestorm questioned not wanting to get on the large tabby warrior's bad side. Ravenpaw nodded.

"Yeah he went hunting with Finchflight and Mapletail, and left me to take care of the elders." Ravenpaw explained. "I've finished looking after the elders and I still have some energy left that could be used for hunting." 'Try talking,' Firestorm thought to himself.

"Well alright, let's go then." Firestorm meowed as he headed for the camp entrance. Ravenpaw was right behind him with Sunpaw following close behind.

"Let's try near the Sun Rock," meowed Sunpaw suddenly, Firestorm nodded in agreement. 'Yeah that probably is the best place to talk as long as no one else is resting there.' He thought. Ravenpaw blinked slowly in confusion.

"Shouldn't we start in the Oak Clearing first? " Ravenpaw asked. Firestorm had nearly forgotten that they had asked him for help training Sunpaw. Sunpaw glanced at Firestorm with a slightly worried look.

"Its fine I think she'll do okay outside of the training area." Firestorm meowed trying to come up with an excuse for why they should start near the Sun Rock. "Besides Stonetooth is there practicing battle moves with Sharppaw and I don't want Sunpaw getting distracted."

"Okay I understand I suppose the Sun Rock would be a great place to practice." Ravenpaw finally agreed to the spot. Sunpaw looked relieved that they wouldn't have to tell him yet. They continued on their way to the Sun Rock.

As they walked Ravenpaw suddenly dived into a bush and returned shortly after with a mouse in his jaws. Firestorm blinked slowly than remembered that they were supposed to be hunting.

"Well done," he meowed, it really was a good catch, and if he hadn't been so distracted he would have caught it himself. Sunpaw also congratulated him on his catch. Ravenpaw looked a little embarrassed.

"It's probably not my best catch, and I know cats in SkyClan prefer birds to mice, voles and squirrels but prey is prey right?" Firestorm agreed to that statement.

"It really was a great catch, I don't mind mice all that much." Sunpaw meowed Ravenpaw blinked gratefully at her.

"Well go ahead and bury it will come back for it later." Ravenpaw agreed and buried the mouse quickly before they were on their way again. Firestorm stopped a moment when he caught the scent of a wren on the wind. He stopped and dropped into a crouch carefully inching forward listening and scenting. Suddenly he dived forward to catch the wren, but his timing had been off and the bird launched into the air. 'Mousedung' thought Firestorm crossly. He was surprised to see a blur of gold shoot up and paw at the bird. Sunpaw's swipe had caught one of the wings and forced the bird to land on it wrong. Unable to fly the wren made a loud noise as Sunpaw pounced on it. 'A messy kill but at least she got it.'

"You still need some work on your pounce and swipe, but for your first kill it wasn't bad." Firestorm praised her. Sunpaw purred softly at the praise and swiftly buried her catch. They continued on their way.

Before long they were at the Sun Rock. Sunpaw raced forward heading into the den that the rock formed.

"I don't think I scented any prey in there, did you? Ravenpaw asked suddenly. Firestorm sighed softly hoping Ravenpaw wouldn't run off or not listen. He looked upward into the trees looking for any sign of their Clanmates that might be hunting in the area. When he was certain they were alone he began to speak.

"Ravenpaw, there's something I need to ask you about." Firestorm meowed softly, Ravenpaw looked at him curiously.

"What about?" Ravenpaw tilted his head a little in confusion. Firestorm paused to gather his thoughts.

"It's about, your reason for joining SkyClan." Firestorm murmured. Ravenpaw's eyes narrowed a little.

"What do you mean? Is something wrong?" Firestorm could only stare at him.

"I think the reason for you leaving ThunderClan has to do with how Sunpaw's brother died." Ravenpaw looked at him like he grew two heads.

"Firestorm, a fox had nothing to do with me leaving ThunderClan,"

"It wasn't a fox that killed Flamekit." Ravenpaw blinked quickly in surprise.

"He wasn't? What happened to him?"

"That's what I want to talk to you about." Firestorm explained quietly. "Sunpaw just told me what really happened to Flamekit, she had been there when he died and saw the whole thing. I want to tell her your story because I think it has something to do with his death but I didn't want to tell her without asking you first." Ravenpaw sat down and seemed to be lost in thought.

"How much does she know?"

"Next to nothing, I only mentioned that there was a reason you left your Clan not the actual reason why you left." Ravenpaw nodded in acceptance of that. There was another pregnant pause between the two before Ravenpaw spoke again.

"I would like to hear her story first before I trust her with mine."

"That's probably for the best." Firestorm lead Ravenpaw under the Sun Rock where Sunpaw was patiently waiting for them.

"Sunpaw, can you tell Ravenpaw what you told me? He promises not to tell anyone else about it. But his own secret is just as, if not more, delicate than your own secret."

"Fine, I'll explain again." They two toms sat in silence as Sunpaw once more relived the horror of her brother's death. Ravenpaw was listening closely trembling a little as the story was getting close to Flamekit's eerie end. Firestorm watched as Ravenpaw's eyes widened in horror at the mention of the dark tabby ThunderClan warrior that had been talking to Stonetooth and he seemed to stifle a wail of horror when Sunpaw spoke of Flamekit's execution at the paws of his own Clanmate.

"No No No," Ravenpaw was muttering as he trembled. Firestorm placed his muzzle comfortingly against his shoulder. Sunpaw gave him a sad look as she too trembled from the horror of recounting her own memory. A few moments later found them both calmer but Ravenpaw still wore the look of horror.

"You think it was…"Ravenpaw trailed off as he looked at Firestorm. Firestorm nodded gravely.

"I do, from the moment she gave me the description. I wanted to wait until after she was brought to a gathering to be sure but…" Sunpaw looked at them both in confusion and slight anger at being left out.

"Who do you think it was?" she asked lashing her tail in frustration. Ravenpaw looked to Firestorm, who meowed that they should tell her.

"She has held on to her own secret for this long she won't expose your own." He murmured reassuringly to Ravenpaw.

"Okay, as long as she promises to keep it to herself."

"I promise I won't say a word to anyone. It took a lot of courage just to tell Firestorm my story." Sunpaw meowed softly. Ravenpaw looked around nervously before starting his tale.

"Do you remember what was spoken about the deaths of Redtail and Oakheart?" Sunpaw blinked slowly than nodded.

"Yes I do, Redtail was killed by Oakheart during a border fight right?" Ravenpaw shook his head.

"Wrong, Oakheart was killed in a rock slide. Redtail escaped it without injury. I was there I saw the whole thing happened." Ravenpaw told her. "Redtail was attacked by my former mentor, Tigerclaw, he was the one to kill Redtail. He was hoping to become the new deputy afterward but Lionheart was made deputy in his place. Tigerclaw figured out or suspected that I knew the truth and tried to kill me that's why I came here. " Sunpaw's eyes widened in shock and she shivered even more, but she still wore a look of confusion on her face.

"But it still doesn't explain how their connected."Sunpaw pointed out, "Other than their both murders there isn't a connection. We have no proof that Tigerclaw was the cat who Stonetooth was speaking to."

"I think I do." Both of them turned to look at Firestorm in surprise.

"What do you mean? What do you know?" Ravenpaw asked quietly. Sunpaw too looked on with worried curiosity.

"You mentioned at the gathering that after the rockslide happened a gray cat leaped down to see if Oakheart was alright then took off for the SkyClan border."

"Yes I also thought he was confused to."

"What if he wasn't checking to make sure Oakheart was alright?"

"What do you mean?"

"What if he was making sure that Oakheart was dead and not going to see if he was alive?"

"What do you know Firestorm," Sunpaw's voice quivered with dread.

"A while ago not long after I was apprenticed there was mention of a kittypet who had been chased through our territory into ThunderClan territory.

"Yes that was Scorchblaze I remember. It was the day Redtaill…" Ravenpaw trailed off with dawning horror on his face.

"Yes I knew him before I came to SkyClan when I heard that the kittypet matched his description I started searching along the ThunderClan border to find any trace of his scent to see if it really was him. " Firestorm paused to let them take in what he was saying before continuing. "When I got close to the RiverClan-ThunderClan part of the border I saw a car coming so I raced up and hid in one of the trees. When I looked I saw it was Stonetooth, but his fur was dreanched and his paws were covered in something. I thought it was mud, but now that I think about it…"

"You think he killed Oakheart?" Sunpaw squeaked.

"But why do any of it what does he gain from killing Oakheart?" Ravenpaw asked with a sad shake. "It makes no sense."

"No Stonetooth didn't benefit from it, but Tigerclaw did didn't he?" Firestorm spoke gravely. "It helped Tigerclaw look good as a potential deputy did it not?"

"But Tigerclaw didn't become deputy, Lionheart did." Sunpaw pointed out.

"It still helped his image and Tigerclaw didn't have to wait long before becoming deputy." Ravenpaw murmured bitterly. Firestorm nodded

"Exactly, I think what Flamekit stumbled upon was the two of them planning on a way to make Tigerclaw deputy of ThunderClan. Flamekit might not have heard anything but they couldn't risk him exposing them so Stonetooth killed him for his silence." Sunpaw's eyes were filled with shock and pain as she closed them and lowered her head, her whole body trembled as choked back her wails of sorrow. Firestorm pressed his pelt against hers and touched his muzzle to her shoulder. "He was at the wrong place at the wrong time. He did nothing to deserve his death."

"But what does Stonetooth gain by helping Tigerclaw?" Ravenpaw voiced up suddenly. "Why would he help a cat from a completely different Clan?"

"Maybe he owed him a favor?" Firestorm shrugged

"We still don't know if it is Tigerclaw." Sunpaw spoke softly.

"She's right, "Ravenpaw agreed reluctantly. "We don't know if it is Tigerclaw or not. There are other dark brown tabbies in the forest. It might not be Tigerclaw. I couldn't tell you who the gray tom was I didn't get a good look at him. "

"Your right we don't know, but…"Firestorm glanced at Sunpaw. "Sunpaw got a good look at the dark brown tabby." Ravenpaw's eyes widened in surprise.

"She did? You did?" Ravennpaw questioned rapidly.

"Yes I could tell you who it was but I don't know other warriors." Sunpaw explained.

"If Sunpaw goes to the gathering and Identifies Tigerclaw as the cat talking to Stonetooth then we know for certain their connected and that both of them are up to no good. Maybe we can warn Goldenstar."

"It's not enough proof." Ravenpaw told him, "It's still our word against theirs. You and I were outsiders they won't take us seriously and Sunpaw was a kit when this all happened they'll just think she was confused. We need more proof that they're up to something crooked."

"Yes, and we still don't have a plausible explanation for why Stonetooth is helping Tigerclaw." Firestorm hated to admit it to himself but they were both right. It wasn't enough to prove anything it was all speculation until Sunpaw could identify Tigerclaw and even then it wouldn't be enough until they could discover what Stonetooth's part was in the partnership. They sat in silence lost in their thoughts for a moment.

"We should head back soon." Ravenpaw meowed suddenly.

"Yes and we need to catch a few more pieces of prey." Firestorm agreed. "Perhaps this discussion should be left for another time?" Sunpaw meowed a soft okay. Ravenpaw said nothing and only nodded his head.

"Ravenpaw, could you gather Sunpaw's wren and your mouse and bring them back to camp?" Firestorm asked him calmly. "I'll take Sunpaw closer to the strange twoleg bird feeders we'll bring what we catch back to camp."

"Okay, but this conversation stays between us right?"

"Yes we won't say a word." Ravenpaw dipped his head than took off toward where they had buried their earlier prey. Firestorm watched him go before turning his attention to Sunpaw.

"Are you alright Sunpaw?" he asked softly. Sunpaw gazed into Firestar's emerald stare. He bright sky blue eyes had dimmed with grief for her brother.

"I don't know," she murmured softly. Firestorm didn't know what to do to help her. He just sat beside her and gently licked her ears.

Okay stopping it here for now.

So now we know that Stonetooth and Tigerclaw is up to no good. (As if we didn't already know.") but things are starting to become clear for them.


End file.
